Posted on 02/04/2008 10:03:33 AM PST by BGHater
Deadline's up to make sure BMV, Social Security records match.
The The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles says it will revoke the driver's licenses of up to 56,000 people across the state in coming weeks.
They are among the 206,000 people who had received letters in November saying the information on their licenses didn't match Social Security records.
Thursday was the deadline to fix the mismatched data -- be it their name, gender, date of birth or Social Security number.
The whole effort -- a comparison of the BMV's 6.4 million records with those of Social Security -- had raised fears by illegal immigrants that they could be deported or lose their cars or homes.
But the mismatch letters hit a lot of lifelong citizens, too.
There was a Catholic nun who had changed her name when she took her vows.
There was a Tribune reader who said his name was entered into Social Security as "Bob" when he was 14, starting his first job in 1947; but, to match all other records, it should have been "Robert."
About 82,000 people like him have fixed their information, the BMV reports.
The BMV says that hundreds of letters are streaming in daily from people to rectify their licenses. It takes the BMV about seven to 10 days to work that out, the BMV says.
The BMV will do another check of its database with Social Security's to ensure accuracy next week.
Then it will send letters to those who've had their licenses and ID cards revoked. It will simultaneously mark the licenses as revoked in the computer database that police use, BMV spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said.
What will this mean to people who continue driving after their licenses are revoked -- particularly in a routine traffic stop by police?
A lot of illegal immigrants in Goshen already have been driving without a license, said Assistant Chief Mike McCloughen of the Goshen Police Department.
This could drive up the number of citations, but it's also good to ensure drivers are legally licensed, he said.
For now, it seems local police departments and prosecutors will continue to have the discretion to charge and penalize as they see fit. A motorist could go to jail or just receive a ticket, depending on how state laws are interpreted.
A pivotal question is whether police and prosecutors see you as never having had a license before. What if they decide you got your license fraudulently?
Consider: It's a Class C misdemeanor to drive a car if you've never in your life had a license. (Indiana Code 9-24-18-1) Police can send you to jail for that or just give you a ticket and fine.
On the other hand, it's an infraction -- worth just a ticket and fine -- if you are caught with a license that's been revoked or suspended. (Indiana Code 9-24-19-1) But it can turn into a misdemeanor if you've had prior violations.
"You can look at it both ways," said McCloughen, adding that his department has asked the county prosecutor for guidance.
Several law enforcement agencies still are trying to sort out whether they'll approach the newly revoked licenses in a specific way, said 1st Sgt. Brian Olehy, a spokesman with the Indiana State Police.
When an officer checks a driver's license in the state computer, Olehy said, it won't come back as one of the licenses with mismatched Social Security data. Rather, it will be coded simply as "revoked," said the BMV's Rosebrough.
Immigration enforcement
Rosebrough said the BMV's goal has been to clean up its records.
But for illegal immigrants, a trip to jail can lead to deportation proceedings.
In Elkhart and St. Joseph county jails, officials regularly send a list of all foreign-born inmates to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (at ICE's request), Elkhart County police spokesman Trevor Wendzonka said. ICE files paperwork to hold inmates in the jail for 48 hours. If ICE doesn't come within that time to pick up the inmate, the person may be let go, Wendzonka said.
But police officers on the street aren't arresting people for immigration violations, said Capt. Phil Trent of the South Bend Police Department.
"We do not do street-level immigration enforcement at our department," he said, echoing what police chiefs in Elkhart and Goshen say.
McCloughen suggests that people without licenses seek rides from those who have licenses. He says they could learn from the Amish, many of whom pile into vans and share rides to factory jobs.
But it could soon become a misdemeanor to transport an illegal immigrant -- or a felony if it is the second offense or involves more than five illegal aliens. That's part of Senate Bill 335 that passed the state Senate on Tuesday.
Titles and insurance
Illegal immigrants have worried about what will happen to the vehicles and trailer homes they had bought and titled in their names. If people have to scramble and return to their home countries, could they sell these off?
The short answer is yes.
Rosebrough said the BMV will put a "stop" on the titles of vehicles and trailers on which BMV owner's records didn't match Social Security. The title still will belong to the owner, but that person won't be able to change it. However, in a recent clarification he got from the BMV's policy director, Rosebrough said the owner will be able to transfer the title to a person whose records match Social Security.
Without a title, it becomes more difficult to get an insurance payment in case of an accident.
Before they hand you a check, insurance adjusters want to see some proof that you have an "insurable interest" in the car or trailer -- that is, a title, rental policy, lease agreement or something that shows you have a financial stake, said John Kissling, chief deputy commissioner at the Indiana Department of Insurance. Bureau of Motor Vehicles says it will revoke the driver's licenses of up to 56,000 people across the state in coming weeks.
They are among the 206,000 people who had received letters in November saying the information on their licenses didn't match Social Security records.
Thursday was the deadline to fix the mismatched data -- be it their name, gender, date of birth or Social Security number.
The whole effort -- a comparison of the BMV's 6.4 million records with those of Social Security -- had raised fears by illegal immigrants that they could be deported or lose their cars or homes.
But the mismatch letters hit a lot of lifelong citizens, too.
There was a Catholic nun who had changed her name when she took her vows.
There was a Tribune reader who said his name was entered into Social Security as "Bob" when he was 14, starting his first job in 1947; but, to match all other records, it should have been "Robert."
About 82,000 people like him have fixed their information, the BMV reports.
The BMV says that hundreds of letters are streaming in daily from people to rectify their licenses. It takes the BMV about seven to 10 days to work that out, the BMV says.
The BMV will do another check of its database with Social Security's to ensure accuracy next week.
Then it will send letters to those who've had their licenses and ID cards revoked. It will simultaneously mark the licenses as revoked in the computer database that police use, BMV spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said.
What will this mean to people who continue driving after their licenses are revoked -- particularly in a routine traffic stop by police?
A lot of illegal immigrants in Goshen already have been driving without a license, said Assistant Chief Mike McCloughen of the Goshen Police Department.
This could drive up the number of citations, but it's also good to ensure drivers are legally licensed, he said.
For now, it seems local police departments and prosecutors will continue to have the discretion to charge and penalize as they see fit. A motorist could go to jail or just receive a ticket, depending on how state laws are interpreted.
A pivotal question is whether police and prosecutors see you as never having had a license before. What if they decide you got your license fraudulently?
Consider: It's a Class C misdemeanor to drive a car if you've never in your life had a license. (Indiana Code 9-24-18-1) Police can send you to jail for that or just give you a ticket and fine.
On the other hand, it's an infraction -- worth just a ticket and fine -- if you are caught with a license that's been revoked or suspended. (Indiana Code 9-24-19-1) But it can turn into a misdemeanor if you've had prior violations.
"You can look at it both ways," said McCloughen, adding that his department has asked the county prosecutor for guidance.
Several law enforcement agencies still are trying to sort out whether they'll approach the newly revoked licenses in a specific way, said 1st Sgt. Brian Olehy, a spokesman with the Indiana State Police.
When an officer checks a driver's license in the state computer, Olehy said, it won't come back as one of the licenses with mismatched Social Security data. Rather, it will be coded simply as "revoked," said the BMV's Rosebrough.
Immigration enforcement
Rosebrough said the BMV's goal has been to clean up its records.
But for illegal immigrants, a trip to jail can lead to deportation proceedings.
In Elkhart and St. Joseph county jails, officials regularly send a list of all foreign-born inmates to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (at ICE's request), Elkhart County police spokesman Trevor Wendzonka said. ICE files paperwork to hold inmates in the jail for 48 hours. If ICE doesn't come within that time to pick up the inmate, the person may be let go, Wendzonka said.
But police officers on the street aren't arresting people for immigration violations, said Capt. Phil Trent of the South Bend Police Department.
"We do not do street-level immigration enforcement at our department," he said, echoing what police chiefs in Elkhart and Goshen say.
McCloughen suggests that people without licenses seek rides from those who have licenses. He says they could learn from the Amish, many of whom pile into vans and share rides to factory jobs.
But it could soon become a misdemeanor to transport an illegal immigrant -- or a felony if it is the second offense or involves more than five illegal aliens. That's part of Senate Bill 335 that passed the state Senate on Tuesday.
Titles and insurance
Illegal immigrants have worried about what will happen to the vehicles and trailer homes they had bought and titled in their names. If people have to scramble and return to their home countries, could they sell these off?
The short answer is yes.
Rosebrough said the BMV will put a "stop" on the titles of vehicles and trailers on which BMV owner's records didn't match Social Security. The title still will belong to the owner, but that person won't be able to change it. However, in a recent clarification he got from the BMV's policy director, Rosebrough said the owner will be able to transfer the title to a person whose records match Social Security.
Without a title, it becomes more difficult to get an insurance payment in case of an accident.
Before they hand you a check, insurance adjusters want to see some proof that you have an "insurable interest" in the car or trailer -- that is, a title, rental policy, lease agreement or something that shows you have a financial stake, said John Kissling, chief deputy commissioner at the Indiana Department of Insurance.
If your legit ... its easily fixed.
Honestly, this probably won’t change a blessed thing as far as illegal aliens are concerned. As evidence for this, I refer to my local (central Indiana) small town newspaper that daily in the arrest record lists several arrests for “operator never licensed” being issued to people with Hispanic names. Are all of these scofflaws here legally? Doubt it. Are the illegals being deported? Doubt it.
On the other hand though we are dealing with a group of total idiots who usually can't find there own ass with both hands and a flashlight, so I am going to assume most of the ones found are just mistakes made by themselves in their own ineptitude.
would that every state would do the same
Congressman Billybob
It is against federal law to use the SS number as identification or it was. May have changed after 9 - 11.
Hey, here in Martinsville (Martintucky to us transplants here) the local P.D. hates anyone who is a stranger equally, illegals will not find this town very hospitable I think.
Yes, all states could do it...NOW!
I am sure that there will be lots of small errors, but it is worth it to know who is on the road! ( Boy I hate to say that since the MV is often incompetent and snarled in it’s own rules.)
Hehehe - < hearing the voice in the back of my head saying: > “You ain’t from ‘round here, are ya?”
No $#!t. Going down to IU used to be a pain because of that.
Indeed. And some of the problems are caused by the DOT itself but never corrected by the driver.
(True story: I, personally, know someone who went to the DMV for an ID card, not a license, and received in the mail a Class 1 license, so she could drive a tractor-trailer if she wanted to. I believe she got that corrected pretty quickly, but the jokes haven't entirely gone away.)
There will be a lot more auto wrecks if these people lose their drivers licenses as unlicensed drivers are not safe. (/s)
You forgot to tell the military. They've been using SSNs as an ID since before I came in (1982).
Do I sense a speeding ticket from one of our fine local cops patrolling SR37???
The state got a new computer system which has been a nightmare and lots of people got those letters. Couple that with the fact that Daniels has closed most of the branches around the state.
bump
They started to use when I was in in 1967 (+ or -). But it was called our military ID number instead of the military numbers I had which were three before the change. One for enlisted, one for reserve Officer and one for Regular Army Officer.
FDR was a liar and a socialist.
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.