MW
09-22-2007, 08:21 AM
More New Yorkers can get driver's licenses
Immigration status won't matter under new state policy announced Friday.
(http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS01/709220313)
By Ray Finger
rfinger@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette
Some Southern Tier residents waved a big caution flag Friday to a change that allows all New Yorkers to apply for driver's licenses without regard to their immigration status.
The policy change, announced Friday by Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts, is intended to reduce the number of undocumented, unlicensed and uninsured drivers, leading to lower auto insurance rates.
The change also is intended to increase the number of people who have a record that can be used to help law enforcement efforts, state officials said.
The New York Immigration Coalition in New York City applauded the policy change in a news release, saying it will make roads safer and the licensing system more secure and immune to fraud.
"The old policy undermined public safety and hindered law enforcement by creating a huge population without records or identification and denying them the ability to drive," said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the coalition.
"The new policy fixes the problem by imposing tough but fair documentation standards for all applicants."
But a number of people in the area think the state should put the brakes on the change because it appears to cause more problems than it solves.
"It looks like you don't even have to be a citizen anymore," said Whiting Lightfoot of Caton.
"It simply means that if you stop and pick them up and they're illegal and they have a perfectly legal driver's license, you've got nothing to charge them with," he said.
"They're not driving illegally. If they've got a license, you've given them a legal means of staying."
It also opens the doors to applying to other government benefits, he said.
George Saltsman of Erin agreed.
"It just causes other problems. Now that they've got driver's licenses, they can be on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security," he said. "We're just making it more and more legal.
"Why would we even worry about documentation if we're just going to give them licenses and do whatever we do anyway?"
Agreeing with those who don't like the new policy is U.S. Rep. John R. Kuhl Jr., R-Hammondsport, who issued a statement Friday saying the decision "only solidifies the need for more aggressive immigration legislation in the United States.
"This policy undermines the preventive measures that protect our country from national security threats. The Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers had at least 35 licenses, which helped them to rent cars and open bank accounts."
Kuhl also said in his statement that the policy "encourages people to flood New York state and wreak havoc on our social services, schools and hospitals."
Harry Moore of Watkins Glen pointed out that many illegal residents work here on a transient basis.
Once they have a New York driver's license, they will have what looks to be a very good, solid, legal document that gives an address that probably will not be correct within months after they get the license.
"Since many of them have real trouble with English, which of course is a difficult language, how are they going to understand the New York driving rules, which are complicated, even for those who've driven here all their life?" he said.
"So we well may have people who have a license, but they do not understand how things really work here."
Joe Vikin of Corning also raised the safety issue and said it is valid to ask about immigration status.
"It is reasonable from the point of view that if you are a recent immigrant to the country, you don't know the laws. You don't know the customs. You don't know how to drive effectively in this country," he said.
"The congestion on our highways is something that many immigrants, including myself, were not accustomed to."
When Vikin, professor emeritus at Corning Community College, moved to the United States in 1954, he had never driven in his native Colombia.
"For me to come here and begin to drive right away would have been dangerous for me and for others," he said. "I was totally inexperienced."
Allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses is equivalent to legitimizing bank robbery, Moore said.
Many people have immigrated here from such countries as Cuba, Mexico, South America and Central America who came in the right way and worked their way through the system, he said.
"My hat's off to them. They're good folks, and they've become wonderful citizens," he said.
"But you don't want to turn around and then give preferential treatment to someone who will not work within the system."
I wonder how many illegals will get NY licenses and then move onto other states?
Immigration status won't matter under new state policy announced Friday.
(http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS01/709220313)
By Ray Finger
rfinger@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette
Some Southern Tier residents waved a big caution flag Friday to a change that allows all New Yorkers to apply for driver's licenses without regard to their immigration status.
The policy change, announced Friday by Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts, is intended to reduce the number of undocumented, unlicensed and uninsured drivers, leading to lower auto insurance rates.
The change also is intended to increase the number of people who have a record that can be used to help law enforcement efforts, state officials said.
The New York Immigration Coalition in New York City applauded the policy change in a news release, saying it will make roads safer and the licensing system more secure and immune to fraud.
"The old policy undermined public safety and hindered law enforcement by creating a huge population without records or identification and denying them the ability to drive," said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the coalition.
"The new policy fixes the problem by imposing tough but fair documentation standards for all applicants."
But a number of people in the area think the state should put the brakes on the change because it appears to cause more problems than it solves.
"It looks like you don't even have to be a citizen anymore," said Whiting Lightfoot of Caton.
"It simply means that if you stop and pick them up and they're illegal and they have a perfectly legal driver's license, you've got nothing to charge them with," he said.
"They're not driving illegally. If they've got a license, you've given them a legal means of staying."
It also opens the doors to applying to other government benefits, he said.
George Saltsman of Erin agreed.
"It just causes other problems. Now that they've got driver's licenses, they can be on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security," he said. "We're just making it more and more legal.
"Why would we even worry about documentation if we're just going to give them licenses and do whatever we do anyway?"
Agreeing with those who don't like the new policy is U.S. Rep. John R. Kuhl Jr., R-Hammondsport, who issued a statement Friday saying the decision "only solidifies the need for more aggressive immigration legislation in the United States.
"This policy undermines the preventive measures that protect our country from national security threats. The Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers had at least 35 licenses, which helped them to rent cars and open bank accounts."
Kuhl also said in his statement that the policy "encourages people to flood New York state and wreak havoc on our social services, schools and hospitals."
Harry Moore of Watkins Glen pointed out that many illegal residents work here on a transient basis.
Once they have a New York driver's license, they will have what looks to be a very good, solid, legal document that gives an address that probably will not be correct within months after they get the license.
"Since many of them have real trouble with English, which of course is a difficult language, how are they going to understand the New York driving rules, which are complicated, even for those who've driven here all their life?" he said.
"So we well may have people who have a license, but they do not understand how things really work here."
Joe Vikin of Corning also raised the safety issue and said it is valid to ask about immigration status.
"It is reasonable from the point of view that if you are a recent immigrant to the country, you don't know the laws. You don't know the customs. You don't know how to drive effectively in this country," he said.
"The congestion on our highways is something that many immigrants, including myself, were not accustomed to."
When Vikin, professor emeritus at Corning Community College, moved to the United States in 1954, he had never driven in his native Colombia.
"For me to come here and begin to drive right away would have been dangerous for me and for others," he said. "I was totally inexperienced."
Allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses is equivalent to legitimizing bank robbery, Moore said.
Many people have immigrated here from such countries as Cuba, Mexico, South America and Central America who came in the right way and worked their way through the system, he said.
"My hat's off to them. They're good folks, and they've become wonderful citizens," he said.
"But you don't want to turn around and then give preferential treatment to someone who will not work within the system."
I wonder how many illegals will get NY licenses and then move onto other states?