Posted on 10/09/2008 8:46:21 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Texas now requiring proof of legal status before issuing a driver's license
AUSTIN — In a clampdown on illegal immigrants, the Texas Department of Public Safety has adopted a new policy requiring noncitizens to prove they are in this country legally before they can obtain or renew a driver's license.
Gov. Rick Perry applauded the change, which went into effect Oct. 1, as a way to strengthen the state's security.
"Texas is a great place to live and work, and while we welcome legally documented individuals to the Lone Star State, we must ensure that this privilege is not abused by those seeking to enter our country illegally," he said.
But Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the policy change is a bad idea because illegal immigrants are going to drive anyway.
"People have to drive to get to work. You want people to get (auto) insurance. They can't get insurance if they don't have a driver's license," he said.
The immigrant driver's licenses will look different than regular licenses so that they are immediately recognizable to police, Perry said.
The immigrant licenses will have a "temporary visitor" designation and the date the driver's legal U.S. admission expires.
No driver's license will be issued for anyone whose legal entry into the country expires in less than six months.
People with indefinite admission periods will get one-year licenses that will have to be renewed in person with proof that the applicant's lawful status has been extended.
Under the change, people who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States must present valid governmental documentation that they are in the country legally before they can obtain a driver's license or personal identification card.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
youtube.com/watch?v=UQXYYIdjjFg
Good. I had to go down in person to physically show my socialist security card to the people there to renew my driver’s license (the State’s deadbeat dad laws affect all men in the state even if you’ve never been married or fathered a child).
This is not an undue hardship. It is the state protecting the public (Department of Public Safety) to make sure that they are legally in the state residing here.
ping
And, will they put signs on the cars so everyone will know to stay clear?
This is typical of these morons. A different license doesn't mean squat.
Gosh, when did Rick “Illegal Alien College Students are Better than Other Americans” Perry get religion?
These DLs are for the “legal” immigrants.
Crackdown? LOL! Illegals can and do get fake SS cards in Austin/Houston/Dallas/El Paso et al...and receive a Texas Resident State Drivers License.
Don’t forget how this will repress minority voter registration, too.
Following this superb logic, laws against tax evasion are a bad idea because some people will do it anyway.
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