California Driver’s License Program Hits an Unexpected Snag (Illegals don't trust govt)

NY Times ^ | 3/4/14 | IAN LOVETT

[Second Amendment First]

BELL, Calif. — The auditorium was packed. There were single mothers, day laborers, grandparents pushing infants in strollers and teenagers interpreting for parents. All of them faced a potentially life-changing prospect: Within a year, California will start offering driver’s licenses to immigrants who are living in the country illegally.

But one person after another stepped to the microphone and expressed fear that the licenses, far from helping them, could instead be used to deport them.

Last year, when California became the most populous state to pass a law permitting undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses, advocates for immigrant rights were thrilled, saying it would allow people to commute without fear while also decreasing rates of hit-and-run accidents and uninsured drivers on the roads. Now those advocates are confronting another formidable obstacle: the deep and longstanding mistrust of the American government among this population.

It turns out that convincing immigrants who have spent decades avoiding the authorities to willingly hand over their names, addresses and photographs to the government is no easy sell — particularly since the licenses will look different from regular ones, in ways that have yet to be determined.

[HiJinx]

Ping!

Click the keyword Aliens to see more illegal alien, border security, and other related threads.

[Hoffer Rand]

You forgot the fifth one: no habla ingles. I think it goes in the fourth position in your list.

[TigersEye]

They see how the gov treats citizens and would rather stay in the shadows.

[ObamahatesPACoal]

Would there be any benefit of other illegals stealing the cards off the good illegals.

Maybe an Illegal alien fugitive just waves one of these cards at law enforcement and the ICE agent doesn’t check their status.

[tflabo]

Se no puede. Muchos dineros por la estado California. Pony up illegals-—your master Lieberals in Sacto demand it.

[DeWalt]

Only in America can a criminal stand at a microphone in a goverment meeting in front of cameras and media and tell that goverment,”If I get this license you will use it to catch me”. Irony anyone?

[nascarnation]

I’m surprised at this.
I assumed most illegals already have driver’s licenses and use them via motor voter to vote for Democrats.

[Organic Panic]

I have always asked why the heck illegals would even want amnesty. Who would willingly sign up to be tracked by the government, pay taxes, and submit to obligations of citizens? They get free medical care, welfare, and any number of handouts already?

[Kenny Bunk]

........immigrate legally from their home country. My parents never had to look over their shoulder or worry about being stopped by the police. My parents also took the time to learn English so that they weren’t lost in a new world.

º¡Lo siento mucho, FReepadero, mas evidente que sus padres eran racistas!

[sternup]

I assumed most illegals already have driver’s licenses and use them via motor voter to vote for Democrats.

in this neck of the woods, they have 3 0r 4 of em....along with a bundle of matching snap cards...

[uncitizen]

They’re safe as long as they are not caught voting Republican.

[Paulie]

What is your suggestion to California then?

[Prince of Space]

What happens to an American in the same situation?

[max americana]

jail time for gringo

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[cricket]

The are learning. . .because; indeed; they should not.