Posted on 10/10/2005 12:46:14 PM PDT by Millicent_Hornswaggle
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Manuel Hernandez gets nervous at the sight of a police car behind him in traffic, knowing he is breaking the law each time he gets behind the wheel.
The Guatemalan citizen living in Lexington lacks a drivers license.
“It’s a risk,” he said. But, “it’s reality.”
Hernandez is like thousands of undocumented immigrants, driving without a license because state law says they can’t have one. It is also difficult, if not nearly impossible, for them to get driver’s training or secure a driver’s manual in their native language to learn the rules of the road in their new country.
A recent wreck in Lexington that resulted in the death of a Mexican man, who police said didn’t have a valid license, brought the issue to light. It has also prompted some who drive without a license to question the laws that keep them from getting a valid permit.
“How are you going to get to work? Walk?” said Mario Barrios, a Mexican man who has lived in the United States, the past eight in Lexington.
Barrios, who works at a horse farm and is married to a U.S. citizen, tried to get a Kentucky license. Officials there told him he needed to show a Mexican passport and a visa showing he entered the U.S. legally.
“They said, ‘Before 9/11, maybe. Now, no way,”’ he said.
Laws in many states, including Kentucky, were tightened in the months after the terrorist attacks. According to state law, all non-U.S. citizens may drive in the country on their valid foreign driver’s license for up to one year after they come here.
After that, they are expected to get a U.S. driver’s license, which may not be possible for undocumented immigrants.
Punishing immigrants without a valid license is tough, said Assistant Fayette County Attorney Jack Miller. Kentucky has no legal way to charge a driver who consistently refuses to get a license.
“There’s no way to monitor how many times they’ve been here,” he said.
But, the lack of a license can also mean the lack of insurance, which can result in a person being arrested.
That’s what happened to Pablo Jimenez, who arrived in Kentucky five years ago from Mexico’s Oaxaca state.
“They took me to jail for a little while,” Jimenez, 27, said.
“The fines were going to be over a thousand dollars.”
After obtaining insurance and renewing the vehicle’s registration, Jimenez paid about $250 in fines.
Insurance companies such as Safe Auto will insure immigrants as long as they have a valid license from their country, even if they are undocumented, said Jene Taylor, a Safe Auto sales representative.
There are no exact figures, but Barrios estimates maybe half of immigrants begin driving here.
“There’s a lot who came here from Mexico that didn’t drive there, but drive here,” he said. “They’re the ones who get into crashes.”
Lexington Police Chief Anthany Beatty said undocumented immigrants, at the very least, need to be informed of the rules of the road and public transportation options.
“I know there are going to be those saying we shouldn’t spend money to educate someone who is not documented, we shouldn’t spend money to allow people to get cars and to have licenses, but the fact is they are here, and they are driving cars, and some of them don’t have licenses,” Beatty said.
State Rep. Mike Weaver wrote and pushed the 2002 state legislation that made it more difficult for immigrants to get a Kentucky driver’s license. He said it should be tough for illegal immigrants to get a license.
“Once they have a driver’s license, they can hide among us indefinitely,” he said.
But the Rev. Patrick Delahanty of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky said that logic is flawed.
“We have no idea whether they know what a stop sign is or don’t know what a stop sign is. We’ve created a situation where they’re not going to show up to show us. They’re not going to take a driver test. They’re not going to study the law of Kentucky and not have insurance,” he said.
------
Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader,
Because he found some couch potato to claim she married him. IMO, if she didn't marry him IN THE COUNTRY WHERE HE WAS LEGAL, their marriage should be as valid as his driver's license - and the marriage certificate issuing agency ought to be prosecuted.
The irony...I was just thinking how unfair it is that I can't go rob a bank or steal a car.
I'm going to cry now...
Sheesh!
You effing well walked across the border, jackass!
Why not walk to work?
He got lazy when he got into America.
WTF?
Isn't it illegal?
Isn't there a penalty for breaking the law?
Repeatedly?
(I apologize in advance for the "yelling")
THIS ISN'T THEIR DAMN COUNTRY! THEY ARE ILLEGAL TRESPASSERS ON U.S. SOIL AND DESERVE TO BE DEPORTED!
Hey Manuel Hernandez, you broke the law and became a criminal the second you step acros the US border unregistered.
ping
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
If he's in the USA, then he should know that each time he takes a breath is is breaking the law.
“There’s no way to monitor how many times they’ve been here,” he said.
Gee, it isn't rocket science. If I went driving without a valid license, chances are pretty good that my car would be impounded and I'd be hauled off to the slammer. What gives illegal aliens special rights to avoid such consequences?
A Kentucky Ping, Please. :)
A Kentucky Ping, Please. :)
Sounds like driving has become a "right" and not a privilege, at least with some segments of the population.
Insurance companies such as Safe Auto will insure immigrants as long as they have a valid license from their country, even if they are undocumented, said Jene Taylor, a Safe Auto sales representative.
Well, a valid license from their country is a document, so if they have one, they're not exactly "undocumented," are they?
“I know there are going to be those saying we shouldn’t spend money to educate someone who is not documented, we shouldn’t spend money to allow people to get cars and to have licenses, but the fact is they are here, and they are driving cars, and some of them don’t have licenses,” Beatty said.
,,,"so let's just let 'em drive. Who's it gonna hurt?"
Man, where's bayourod when we need him?
This turkey of a bill is brought up every year by the same state senator (Gil Cedillo). He won't give up.
The legislation he proposes is always legislation in favor of Mexican illegal immigration. People here refer to him as "one bill Gil".
As an undocumented attorney, I will be happy to take an undocumented fee from Senor Hernandez in return for undocumented legal advice concerning his undocumented driving/surgery problem.
He can meet me at midnight, alone, at an undocumented location....
They have to call them "undocumented immigrants" because illegal is not PC. If they can get the masses to accept the word "undocumented" over illegal, then the masses will begin to accept the PC laws...like giving law breakers a drivers license.
One of the greatest stings would be to pass a law saying illegals could have a drivers license...when they show up, arrest them, and then deport them. You'd have thousands shipped back to their home countries...and far less illegal aliens and drivers on the road.
KY Ping.
There was an auto accident on 31W a few miles south of E'town two days ago where four Mexican citizens were killed. The driver was 16 with NO license.
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.