Posted on 01/29/2006 10:39:20 AM PST by NewRomeTacitus
KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee's driving certificate for illegal immigrants isn't supposed to be valid as a form of ID, but it's so popular that people are paying hundreds of dollars and traveling hundreds of miles to get one.
Tennessee has issued more than 51,000 certificates since 2004 when it became the first state in the nation to offer them -- since joined by Utah. But not every certificate has gone to someone living in Tennessee.
Two major federal arrests in recent months exposed black-market shuttles carrying South and Central American immigrants south from New Jersey and north from Georgia to state licensing centers in Knoxville, where the immigrants got certificates using fake residency papers.
A third sweep near Nashville this week revealed a conspiracy in which prosecutors say state license examiners in Murfreesboro accepted bribes from a driving school to provide illegal immigrants with driver's licenses and certificates without testing.
This comes as Tennessee's certificate system is being studied as a possible model for handling "non-conforming drivers" under Congress' recently adopted Real ID program that will set a national standard for driver's licenses by 2008.
"We have seen individuals coming to Tennessee to take advantage of the driver's certificate program because they are easy to obtain," Acting U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick said.
Although "not valid for identification" appears in bold red letters on the face of the wallet-size certificates, Dedrick said banks accept them as legal ID and they "can easily be passed off for other types of identification documents."
Lawyer Mike Whalen, whose client Zeneida Concepcion Rivera faces up to four years in prison if convicted of bringing as many as 100 immigrants from New Jersey to Knoxville for certificates, said the government is making too much of the problem.
"Somebody went through the roof and said, 'Remember 9-11, every one had driver's licenses.'" he said. "Well, none of these Mexican immigrants are in flight school anywhere. There is a difference."
That argument carries little weight in law enforcement circles.
The certificate law "just kind of opened up a flood gate of everyone wanting to come here to get some sort of identification," said Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison, whose officers discovered 58 illegal immigrants used the same Knoxville address to get a certificate.
Applicants must provide two documents, such as utility bills or a lease, to show they live in Tennessee, and a Social Security number -- or a sworn affidavit if there is none. They also must pass an eye exam, a driving rules test and a road test.
"What we tried to do in Tennessee was to recognize that there are people who may be legally here but they are not completely documented," Gov. Phil Bredesen said.
Tennessee began licensing illegal immigrants, without a Social Security number requirement, in early 2001. More than 180,000 obtained licenses before post-9-11 fears set in.
The driving certificates were created in 2004 to satisfy homeland security concerns while giving illegal immigrants the right to drive with certified proficiency.
Bredesen recalled being shocked three years ago to see an ad in a Spanish-language newspaper in Georgia promoting package deals for "a certain amount of money to get on a bus and go to Tennessee to get a driver's license."
Since then, he said, "there is no question we have tightened it up a long way."
Yet the arrests of the New Jersey-based group in July and a Georgia-based group in December suggest the underground express is still rolling -- with illegal immigrants willing to pay $950 to $1,500 apiece to come to Knoxville to get a certificate.
Some say the problem isn't the law, but the law's enforcement.
Joan Friedland, an immigration policy attorney with the National Immigration Law Center in Washington, said the key is "rigorous proof of state residence."
"That is really what the issue is," she said. "And you deal with that by making sure that people actually live there."
Hutchison's officers searched the Internet to determine that immigrants were using fake residences and they spent months monitoring the suspects' movements before they were arrested.
"I would hope that the state would pick up on it sooner," the sheriff said. "But I am not sure that they are actually geared to do that."
Tracy McGill, a supervisor at a Knoxville testing center where dozens of the fake residences were used to get certificates, refused comment. "I have to get back to work," she said.
The allure of payoffs to underpaid license examiners may only increase as requirements tighten and certificates become more precious, said Melissa Savage, a policy analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
One state worker in Murfreesboro allegedly accepted $20 per student in bribes for about 1,000 licenses or certificates.
The Washington-based civil liberties group Center For Democracy and Technology noted the enforcement problem in a 2004 report about issues facing a national ID card system. The center cited two dozen cases in 15 states the previous year in which thousands of licenses were fraudulently issued -- all because of bribery or lax security at Department of Motor Vehicle offices.
We Tennesseans need a new Buford Pusser to go around cracking heads.
Hijinx or gubamyster, please ping (where's my list? On the good computer in storage. Yeah, I know, they're called "floppies".)
I love "Lame Phil" Bredesen's comment about "not completely documented". A native born citizen needs documents up the wazoo, but not an illegal. I doubt if the documents they provide to the state would pass the requirements for some "rent to own" furniture store. Hell, my 15 year-old son can't get a learner's permit without a certified true copy of his birth certificate. On the other hand, it seems we have state police officers with criminal records, so it's just Tennessee politics as usual.
Not anymore, they're not. ;-) 
Another one of those newfangled contraptions, is it? I'll look into that after reviewing my buggy whip stock report.
I remember reading about this during the week. We have way too many people making a living off illegals.
Apparently Lt. Governor Wilder possesses the weird ability to make this happen
to any Republican who falls under his baleful gaze. Someone call Ripley's.
LOL
ping
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
Darn. Tennessee was one of the states I was looking into relocating to. I'm sick of being in Mexifornia!
Here's a thought for you. Don't tell anyone.
Breaking down the 2000 Census for your state puts the Hispanic population at 15%. When one compares that to national figures which show an average of 33% to 50% more actually there but ducked the Census (illegals) your state is about on par with everyone else on that footing.
Still, at just over half a million people sharing that much land incidents of bariozation should be few and far between, even with the record-breaking influx of the past five years.
If you guys stay on top of it. Stay healthy!
If you guys stay on top of it. Stay healthy!
Much of the problem has been in four counties in the southwestern corner of the state, plus some of the tourist-areas [Yellowstone, ski resorts, etc] where they can often find quick employment in food service or as day labourers.
It's seasonal, and they don't seem to care to stick around for Wyoming's winter weather. It scares away some other Californios as well, probably a mixed blessing.
I looked into it already, actually. We're not sure we can handle the temperatures there! But I know it is beautiful. And although you have no state income taxes and properties seem very reasonable, I saw some high property taxes. Can you give me a rough percentage of what the prop. taxes are there?
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