Petitioners Now Target License Law (Save Our Drivers License Alert!)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 10/18/03 | Geoffrey Mohan And Allison Hoffman

[goldstategop]

A little more than a week after angry Californians tossed out their sitting governor, a grass-roots campaign is gaining ground in a push to reverse a new law granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

A group of Republicans who were active in the recall effort said they had collected nearly 40,000 signatures in the two weeks since they began circulating petitions for the proposed ballot initiative. If volunteers can gather 375,000 signatures of registered voters by Dec. 7, the law will be suspended and voters will decide its fate in the March election.

The battle over driver's licenses began with the Proposition 187 movement of 1993. That year, amid a number of bills to combat illegal immigration, the Legislature for the first time required proof of legal status before an applicant could obtain a California driver's license. Gov. Gray Davis' signature on Senate Bill 60 reversed that law in September.

The initiative drive started as a backlash against Davis' signing of the license bill. But since the recall, the rhetoric has shifted toward a referendum on competing views of California: one that tolerates illegal immigrants and one that rejects them.

More than 30,000 people have registered on the "Save Our License" Web site and requested petitions, according to Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, the conservative Republican group that launched the initiative drive.

[goldstategop]

This is a two-fer populist issue: national security and national sovereignty and there's no more powerful symbol of that than our driver's license. The liberals picked the wrong target and that's why they will lose and lose big and despite the Los Angeles Times attempt to portray this as a partisan Republican initiative, it is very much a grassroots drive that unites Californians from all walks of life. We're going to send the politicians a big wake up call and when we do, they'll see just how angry we are. They don't know angry we are yet but they will. Now let's save our driver's license and LET'S ROLL!!!

[goldstategop]

Want to help stop Gil Cedillo and the illegal immigrant lobby from subverting our efforts to make California and our country more secure since 9-11? Click here:

http://www.saveourlicense.com

[goldstategop]

http://www.saveourlicense.com

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Glad to see that Californians have a way to check this folly.

A little help from Tom Ridge--in the form of a declaration that you can't board an airliner without ID, and a California drivers' license doesn't constitute ID if illegal aliens are by law entitled to get one--would seem to be in order. What can those Democrats be thinking? Oh, duh! Votes from aliens, of course!

[Savage Beast]

Democrats/"Liberals" are so blinded and consumed by hatred that they are willing to do anything to satisfy their lust for power.

[I_dmc]

A person could begin to consider living in California. ;-)

[DonQ]

Does anyone have a realistic figure on how many illegal aliens have drivers licenses under this sort of law??

I ask this because it occurs to me that obtaining a drivers license requires all sorts of documentation which, almost by definition, an illegal alien wouldn't have, anyway. So I think that the "liberal" law, while relieving the DMV from duplicating the job of the INS, really doesn't give much away in actual practice.

[taxed2death]

"A little help from Tom Ridge"............sure.

Is this the same Tom Ridge who won't close our borders because of "political and cultural reasons"..

Welcome to homeland insecurity.

[DumpsterDiver]

Does anyone have a realistic figure on how many illegal aliens have drivers licenses under this sort of law??

I don't know of any.

I ask this because it occurs to me that obtaining a drivers license requires all sorts of documentation which, almost by definition, an illegal alien wouldn't have, anyway.

That depends on what state you're in. Here's some information I have found:

SSN Requirements for Driver's Licenses
Updated on May 23, 2003

To date, it appears that Maryland, Oregon, and Vermont are the best states to live in and obtain a driver's license if you are not a U.S. citizen.

Within the U.S. the following states do not require a Social Security number in order to issue a driver's license:

• Kansas
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Oregon
• Vermont

The following states require all drivers' license applicants to have Social Security numbers before issuing drivers' licenses:

• Alabama
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• New Jersey
• West Virginia

Most states require a SSN only if one has already been assigned and/or the person is eligible for a SSN. These states are:

Arizona, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Most of these states require other documentation of an applicant for the driver's license, so it is particularly important to consult their websites in order to ensure everything is in order prior to making the application.

Some states have interesting rules. For example,

Connecticut and New Hampshire only require SSNs from new applicants.

Illinois and Kentucky will accept religious objection as a reason for an applicant to avoid the social security number requirement.

Iowa explicitly does not require nonimmigrants to have the SSNs to obtain drivers' licenses.

Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Utah will accept Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) issued by the Internal Revenue Service in lieu of a SSN issued by the Social Security Administration.

Idaho, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and, in some cases, Michigan, will accept the Matricula Consular – an identity card issued by the Mexican Consulate – as documentation in support of a driver's license application.

Some states also have lawful presence requirements. This list includes

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Source

[truthkeeper]

Ping! Thanks to all for your efforts.

[greydog]

BINGO

[taxed2death]

...please keep in mind the SS dept couldn't care less if you are a US citizen when applying for a ss#.

[DumpsterDiver]

That's nice to hear. Are people required to show their fake birth certificate or INS documents when applying? < /sarcasm>

[lodwick]

Thanks for the link to the donation form.

Wake up, America!

[concentric circles]

Bump for sane government.

[concentric circles]

This is participatory government in action. Get off the bench and into the game.

If you hesitate to share information online, you can sign up to receive petitions over the phone. Call (626) 357-8237.

The December deadline is right around the corner. Get the petitions, collect a few signatures, return the signed petitions. No worries, mate!

Feeling empowered? Call "No Car Tax.com" at (800) 501-8222 and circulate two petitions at once!

[supercat]

Is there anything in California's new DL bill that would forbid the state from conspiciously marking the licenses of illegal aliens? Would it be possible for Arnold to "make it so"?

Frankly, I don't think I'd be opposed to granting licenses to illegals if (1) such licenses were conspiciously marked; and (2) the state kept any applicable records for such licenses and periodically forwarded them to the INS.

[taxed2death]

You are not required to do anything but fog up a mirror, when applying for a SS#. SS dept stated last year they wouldn't even contact INS if they knew the applicant was not a US citizen.. They need warm bodies to pay for baby boomer generation retirees.

[LayoutGuru2]

Thanks for keeping we Oregonians up to date on this.

BTW, has the LA Times ever used the term "illegal immigrants" before? Surely this must be a misprint.

[JustPiper]

ping