Sorry, I couldn't resist. hehe!
The law allows only U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents to get a Tennessee driver's license. That rules out illegal immigrants and temporary visitors such as Guirguis.
But Tennessee is offering a unique compromise - a "certificate of driving" that illegal immigrants won't be able to use for official identification but that will allow them to drive. The certificate guarantees the person knows the rules of driving in Tennessee, but can't use it to buy a gun, rent a car or board an airplane.
Melissa Savage, a policy analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said the certificate is the first of its kind, and other states will be watching to see how it works.
That's not much comfort to Guirguis, who will have to start using her passport - written entirely in Arabic and French - as her primary identification in the United States.
On the few occasions she used her passport as ID, the 27-year-old Vanderbilt University Law School graduate said she got "perplexed looks."
"One of the wonderful things about this country is it has traditionally and historically offered non-residents the same protection and due process as citizens," she said. "The change disturbs me."
The purple driving certificate, which looks different from a regular license, reads, "For Driving Purposes Only, Not Valid for Identification."
Gov. Phil Bredesen, whose administration developed the law, said the change was prompted by the threat of terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001.
Savage said Bredesen's reaction is typical. State leaders across the country are taking a hard look at the risks of giving a driver's license to anyone who passes a test - even when they can't prove who they are.
"When it came out that so many of the terrorists had acquired driver's licenses, the trend now is to tighten restrictions," she said. "It's way beyond driving now, and 9-11 put that all into focus."
About 40 states have laws or regulations restricting driver's licenses to those with a "lawful presence" in the country, according to the National Immigration Law Center, an immigrant advocacy group.
This year, legislatures in 25 states considered 49 bills on whether illegal immigrants could hold driver's licenses. Advocates say giving illegal immigrants licenses will improve traffic safety.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger repealed a law last December allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses after opponents claimed it was a threat to national security. In Florida, a similar bill backed by Gov. Jeb Bush was abandoned after law enforcement officials raised security concerns.
National Immigration Law Center policy analyst Tyler Moran said those decisions are knee-jerk reactions by state leaders who have "gotten caught up in policies that make us feel good but don't make us safer."
Instead, Moran said, the focus should be on how to make driver's licenses more secure. That includes stiffer penalties for making fraudulent documents and better training to help workers recognize them, and a review of the types of documents accepted as proof of residency, she said.
Immigrant advocates worry the change will mean increased racial profiling.
"If I'm stopped by police for a minor traffic offense, it could serve as a pretext for investigating further," Guirguis said of carrying the driving certificate. "It's indicative to the overall trend since 9/11 of chipping away of civil liberties."
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition has set up a hot line for people to call if they think their civil rights have been violated over the driving certificate.
But Tom Moore, deputy commissioner for the state Safety Department, said holders of driving certificates won't be unfairly targeted by law enforcement.
"We do not enforce immigration laws. That's the job of the federal government," he said. "They will get treated the same way anyone else would with any other document."
Bredesen said making sure citizens are safe from terrorism "just really trumped most of the other issues."
"The more that I talked with homeland security people in Washington, the more convinced I became that we've just got to tighten up and be very clear on who has this identification," Bredesen said. ---------------------------------------
from Fox23 News
Sorry, I couldn't resist. hehe!
If someone knows they are going to drive, then they should get an international driver's license.
[TN] Legislators already want 'certificate of driving' law revamped
Williamson County Review Appeal/Associated Press
July 2, 2004
Excerpts [Gannett publication]
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's new driver's certificate for people who cannot prove legal citizenship in the United States has state legislators on both sides of the issue agreeing that changes need to be made to the law.
Two Murfreesboro Republicans, Sen. Bill Ketron and Rep. Donna Rowland, said Thursday that the new "certificate of driving" has created more confusion and problems that either expected.
[snip]
The law was designed to provide a way to track illegal immigrants while ensuring that undocumented workers know the rules of the road.
[snip]
"It needs tweaking," said Ketron, who backed the driving certificate law — the first of its kind in the nation.
"It's far beyond tweaking," said Rowland, who believes legislators should scrap it, go back to requiring Social Security numbers for driver's licenses and dismiss the new two-tiered system.
[snip]
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It's true that it isn't Tennessee's job to enforce federal immigration laws. But it's also true that it isn't Tennessee's job to violate federal immigration laws by aiding and abetting illegal immigration by issuing certificates of driving to illegal aliens.
A government gone mad.....
ping
Do I smell bribes from the terrorists/drug cartels to Tennessee official?
This is a license.
It does not pass the duck test.
Well, it seems to me that it is a good way to handle the foreigners who are here LEGALLY. I would hope that these new licenses are only good for the length of their visas, for openers.
Tough Noogies for the illegals - as most of us have stated, it's less for the priviege of driving than as aBreeder Document that is the Open Sesame to all the U.S. goodies as well as potential vote fraud.
On the other hand, issuing the illegals this kind of "Not For Identification" card gets them into the database. Then, since they have that option and don't use it, ship 'em home for that reason when caught. No visa number? Check 'em out on a random basis and send 'em home. That should put the damper on the "license them for safety crowd". Of course that would mean the govt./INS was serious about internal security.
I fully support driver's licenses for illegals. As long as they have to apply in person at their local immigration control office.