About as smart as saying that rape isn't about sex.
Posted on 02/20/2002 1:09:18 PM PST by Shermy
Proposed legislation requiring more documents from immigrants applying for Tennessee driver's licenses would make roads more dangerous, licensing centers more stressful and the nation no more secure. That's the position of the Department of Safety, said Roland Colson, executive assistant to Commissioner Denny W. King.
"We do not have any legislative effort at this point in time directed toward changing any of the rules," Colson said.
The General Assembly last year passed a law making it unnecessary for immigrants applying for a driver's license to show a Social Security number.
But opponents are pushing for repeal this year, often citing the post-Sept. 11 terrorist threat.
In response, Latino Memphis Connection, a social service agency serving the Hispanic community, and other organizations are churning out press releases, endorsement letters and other information to defeat repeal attempts.
"There's a lot of misinformation out there, and we're trying to rectify that," said David Lubell, community outreach coordinator for Latino Memphis Connection.
"We think if people understand the whole story, they won't be threatened at all."
Among legislators pushing for tighter access to driver's licenses is Rep. Tre Hargett (R-Bartlett). "I think we now have a group of people who have driver's licenses that we can't necessarily verify they are who they say they are," he said.
"Our driver's license centers are flooded because of the ease of obtaining driver's licenses."
But the Coalition for a Safer Tennessee, a group defending the new driver's license law, lists among supporters the Tennessee Bar Association, Knoxville Police Department, Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission, Nashville Chamber of Commerce and other religious, business, community and government organizations.
Lubell said Tennesseans should think about the children.
"Do you want your children crossing the street when they could be at risk from a driver who doesn't know the rules of the road?
"It's not an immigration issue. It's a safety issue."
Opponents of easier access to licenses also propose alternative legislation that would require immigrants to show they are in the United States legally through such documents as a passport or visa.
The opponents cite concerns over terrorists using fraudulently obtained driver's licenses as IDs. As many as five of the Sept. 11 hijackers fraudulently obtained identification cards Aug. 2 from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, federal authorities have alleged.
Opponents also are pointing to the alleged driver's license scam uncovered in Memphis this month. License examiner Katherine Smith, who died in a fiery car wreck Feb. 10, was charged the week before with conspiring to provide fraudulently obtained driver's licenses.
Her co-defendants are five men of Middle Eastern descent. Three of the men admitted to being in the United States illegally and said they were going to pay two middlemen about $1,000 each for driver's licenses, according to the FBI.
While free on her own recognizance, Smith died in what federal authorities describe as a suspicious wreck, the result of arson.
Federal authorities have said they are investigating any possible terrorist links among Smith's co-defendants.
An FBI agent has testified that one of Smith's co-defendants and a leader of the alleged scam told authorities he traveled from New York to Tennessee to get licenses in part because Tennessee does not require immigrants to have a Social Security number.
But Colson said the alleged collusion of the driver's license examiner was a much bigger factor.
"For an examiner that knows the system and knows how it works, there is a possibility they could find a way to enter a Social Security number that could be verified and allowed for a driver's license to be issued," he said.
"Having the Social Security number is not a fail-safe mechanism," he said. "There are ways a person who knows the system can get around it."
And anybody can get a Social Security number, Colson said. "I mean, some of the people that were terrorists had Social Security numbers. That in itself is not a security item."
The Department of Safety also does not want to require people who are not citizens to prove they are in the United States legally by showing proper INS documents such as passports or visas.
"It is a federal requirement of the INS to find out whether someone is here legally or not," Colson said. "It is not our obligation at this particular point."
Arkansas takes a different approach.
"If the paperwork doesn't look right, we'll call the INS and start checking them out," said Susan Willingham, Arkansas license examiner.
If the Tennessee General Assembly starts requiring such proof of a person's legal presence, the Department of Safety would need more money, training and workers, Colson said.
Applicants already stand in line for hours at testing centers, especially in bigger cities like Memphis. It's been an issue for years.
The driver's license division has 303 employees to handle 5.2 million drivers, he said. Workers not only issue driver's licenses but also issue handgun permits, take fingerprints and issue identification cards for people who don't drive.
Making it easier for immigrants to get licenses not only helps individuals, Colson said, it boosts the state's construction and farming industries.
"They have a dramatic need for labor," he said. "These people coming here, they provide that." [no, they provide cheap labor, suppressing the wages of Americans. Disgusting. This guy could write for the Wall Street Journal!]
Plus, deny immigrants a driver's license, Colson said, "and what you are going to do is put a large group of people out on the road that do not have a license, do not have insurance and do not understand the rules of the road."
Ricardo Duran, 44, of Colombia studied the rules, passed the exam and received his license about three weeks ago.
"We wouldn't have been able to get a driver's license if the state had forced us to have a Social Security number," said his wife, Claudia Duran, 40.
Since May, the Durans have been in Memphis, where their 11-year-old daughter, Ana, is being treated for leukemia at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
First of all, the driver's license helps the family get around Memphis, Claudia Duran said. "Second of all, it helps you to have an ID." Her husband's driver's license even has helped them finally to be able to rent videos.
- Tom Bailey Jr.: 529-2388
baileytom@gomemphis.com
And why Tennessee? Is it just corrupted in the area of licensing?
About as smart as saying that rape isn't about sex.
Mr. Roland Colson..seems to stretch the truth a wee bit..
Roland Colson of the Tennessee Department of Safety said 10 people died but Dana Keeton, also from the safety department, reported six people were killed.
Colson said the driver's throat had been cut. A representative at the Medical Center of Manchester, Shelly Turner, said the driver had undergone surgery to treat a laceration to his neck. She said he was in stable condition
DANIEL B. TAYLOR v. DONAL CAMPBELL, COMMISSIONER, TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, et al.
Court:TCA
Attorneys:
Daniel B. Taylor, Only, Tennessee, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael Moore, Solicitor General; and Terri L. Bernal, Assistant Attorney General, for the appellees, Donal Campbell, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Correction; Williams Keeling; Roland Colson; Faye Claud; Dinna Wilson; Wyema Helms; and Shirley Pluckett.
Judge: SUSANO
First Paragraph:
Daniel B. Taylor filed a petition for declaratory judgment against the Commissioner and several other employees of the Tennessee Department of Correction, alleging that he is entitled to various sentence reduction credits and that his sentence is void and illegal. The trial court dismissed Taylor's petition. We vacate the judgment of the trial court and remand for further proceedings.
http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/TaylorDB.wpd
State's terrorism risks described to legislators
He doesn't sound to concerned about terrorism, does he?
The article posted here describes him as executive assistant to Mr. King. That's scary. He is very glib on this issue. I wonder if the powers that be picked him for experience in this area, or trained him. He doesn't sound like a typical govt. type. He sounds like a lobbyist for the businesses pushing immigration. You Tenn. folk should look into these two some more.
I found telephone numbers here, but no e-mail.
Is this being followed in the Nashville media???
That's about the same as a legal one here in Holland! Really!
They only come to work.
How on earth is carelessly flinging out drivers licensees to whomever asks for one going to increase the amount of people who have insurance and understand the rules of the road???
By this logic, if we’d grant citizenship to everyone who wanted it, we wouldn’t have any illegal immigrants, and more law abiding, loyal citizens.
"It is a federal requirement of the INS to find out whether someone is here legally or not," Colson said. "It is not our obligation at this particular point."
I suppose that if Tennessee police discovered a major counterfeiting operation, they would determine that it was the Secret Service’s obligation at that particular point.
If people aren’t supposed to be in this country, we should all try to discover and repatriate them at every opportunity.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
''When all of this occurred last week, we did have a few more security people around, but that has dissipated at this point in time,'' said Roland Colson, spokesman for the state Safety Department.
''We put out a few extra troopers on the road, and we put out a few in other areas. I really wouldn't want to say where, but I will say we put out a few extra troopers.''
''When all of this occurred last week, we did have a few more security people around, but that has dissipated at this point in time,'' said Roland Colson, spokesman for the state Safety Department.
''We put out a few extra troopers on the road, and we put out a few in other areas. I really wouldn't want to say where, but I will say we put out a few extra troopers.''
Glad he is on the job......
Typical liberal, using the old "What about the children?!?" scare tactic to incite hysteria. These people are truly shameless.
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