|
|
Posted on 09/30/2003 2:44:29 PM PDT by boris
It should not surprise anyone that this month Governor Gray Davis signed SB 60, a bill giving illegal aliens access to California driver's licenses. Before a gala crowd of mostly Hispanics, Davis said that "immigrants deserve a right to drive in California." Davis, of course, is in a desperate battle to save his governorship, and he believes the Hispanic vote is key to his survival. SB 60, however, is perhaps the most ill-conceived and dangerous political expedient Davis could have chosen; and it has implications for the entire country.
Prior to 1993, illegal aliens were permitted to have driver's licenses in California. A Governor Wilson-backed bill, however, made licenses available only to those holding a valid Social Security card or who could demonstrate legal status in the U.S. This change, which prevented illegal aliens from obtaining driver's licenses, was supported by current lieutenant governor and gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante.
So far in the recall election Bustamante has not been called upon to explain this past indiscretion in the way Arnold Schwarzenegger has been pilloried for his support of Proposition 187, the initiative that restricted welfare and education benefits to illegal aliens. Davis' electoral strategy here is curious: 59% of registered voters state-wide have expressed disapproval of SB 60, and nearly one-half of those undecided about the recall oppose the new law.
SB 60 requires that driver's license applicants present a Federal Taxpayer Identification Number, a foreign birth certificate and some form of foreign photo identification, such as a passport or foreign military ID.
An early version of the bill required background checks and fingerprints; but these requirements have been dropped by legislators wishing driver's licenses to be widely available to illegal aliens. Attorney General Bill Lockyer, an initial supporter of the proposal, withdrew his support over these changes, saying that the licenses will no longer be secure.
Anyone can obtain a taxpayer ID without proof of citizenship. The IRS admits that the ID is not a secure form of identification since no background checks are performed. In fact, over six million ID's have been issued but only two million are actually used for tax purposes. It is widely suspected that the other four million are used by illegal aliens, often for fraudulent purposes.
Fraudulent foreign birth certificates and military ID's are easily obtained in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the prime source of illegal immigration to the U.S.
Since a driver's license is the equivalent of a domestic passport, opening the door to domestic travel and access to the voting booth, the reach of SB 60 will be extensive. A recent federal government report by the General Accounting Office revealed that undercover investigators were 100 percent successful in obtaining licenses in eight states using fraudulent documents.
Several of the 9/ 11 hijackers had fraudulently obtained driver's licenses from California and Virginia. Virginia promptly changed its laws to crack down on such fraud. California, on the other hand, is inexplicably intent on doing just the opposite, making it easier for terrorists to obtain valid identification. Davis and the legislature are gambling with the entire nation's security, just to score some political points.
So alarmed is the Homeland Security Department over SB 60 that it has asked the IRS to rewrite the rules governing issuance of the Taxpayer ID. Congressman Tom Tancredo (R.-CO) has also introduced legislation to withhold federal highway funds from states that issue licenses to illegal immigrants. Tancredo remarked that SB 60 "has serious implications for our national security. When the actions of one state puts the safety of people living in the other 49 at risk, we are compelled to act."
Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security, says that "if driver's licenses are given to people who are illegally in the country, then that puts an extra burden and difficulty on our inspectors at the border." Currently the California ID acts as a substitute for passports for those traveling between Mexico and the U.S. Security concerns will surely end this customary practice.
Also pending in the California legislature is a bill mandating the acceptance of the consular matricula by all state agencies, including the DMV. The matricula is issued by the Mexican government to its citizens in the U.S., regardless of their immigration status. Mexico issued more than one million matriculas in 2002. Matriculas are easily obtained because Mexico has no centralized system to verify the identity of its own citizens. Once the matricula is recognized, the California driver's licenses will become even less reliable as a form of identification.
California legislators, abetted by Governor Davis, seem intent on destroying the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. The ultimate goal is eventually to destroy the distinction between citizen and non-citizen. In this multicultural universe, such distinctions are presumed to be no longer necessary-indeed passe. Non-citizens will have full access to government services, including Social Security and welfare, as well as the ballot box. Once illegal aliens obtain valid driver's licenses there is nothing to stop them from voting. This is the ultimate assault on American sovereignty and the dignity of American citizenship.
A referendum is now underway to stop the law from going into effect. If petitioners can gather 400,000 signatures it will appear on the March 2004 ballot. Almost certainly the people of California will reject this misdirected attempt to promote what is tantamount to amnesty for illegal aliens. Like the recall effort itself, this referendum will be another defeat for professional politicians who seem so intent on ignoring the common good of the people of California.
Freepmail me if you wish to be removed from or added to this list!
I've got a good feeling the voters of California are going to overturn this pandering, un-American legislation. They know bad law when they see it.
Now if we can only bring some democracy to NY and give citizens the right here to vote on ballot propositions.
Sadly, it can't get any easier here in California.
But even more than that --- they've already discovered these matricula cards being sold out on the streets. In Mexico, bribery and corruption is so engrained, there are probably few of their consulates who wouldn't sell one to anyone if the mordida was high enough.
As long as we keep handing out all the freebies, millions upon millions more will come. It's supposed to be against the law to hire illegal aliens, or to aid and abet illegal immigration, but there is still not a peep heard from George W. Bush or anyone in his administration about any of this. Maybe they're thinking that no one will notice the invasion?
|
|
|
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.