It is a license to drive. It means if they are stopped for speeding, they are not immediately thrown into the hoosegow and fined $500 for driving without a license. I would not support any other benefits is those benefits are intended for citizens, of course.
Most of the American people don't support issuing any drivers license to illegals. Under the Spitzer plan, there is a specific driver's license that would only be issued to illegals under a three tier system. Despite having a license exclusively for illegals, 72% of New Yorkers are against it.
That is the new compromise. But Spitzer was originally going to issue them regular Driver's Licenses. Now the well has been poisoned, and nobody trusts Spitzer.
The Devil is in the details, and nobody trusts Spitzer to do the right thing here. I don't care what he says about a three-tier system, until he can prove otherwise, I am going to assume that the IDs will not be distinctive enough that they are not an aid to voter fraud.
Using such a license opens them up to deportation if they are reported to and turned over to ICE under 287 [g] authority.