]Illinois to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants

[BushyTheBeaver]

wtf?

Illinois to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants
By The Associated Press
Published: January 27, 2013
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — As Illinois becomes the fourth and most populous state to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, there are still nagging concerns that the measure doesn't have enough safeguards to avoid the identity fraud and other pitfalls faced by the three other states with similar laws.

Backers of the proposal, who tout it as a public-safety measure, argue that required facial recognition technology is reliable enough to prevent fraud, but opponents point to hundreds of fraudulent cases in New Mexico, Washington and Utah after those states began giving illegal immigrants permission to drive. Illinois will not require applicants to be fingerprinted, for fear that would discourage immigrants from applying.

"How many people would apply for this document knowing that fingerprints will be going to (federal authorities)? Probably not all that many," said Fred Tsao, policy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, a driving-force behind the measure.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign the measure that grants driving privileges to illegal immigrants this weekend. Proponents say it will allow an estimated 250,000 individuals unlawfully residing in the state to apply for a three-year temporary driver's license and require them to get training and insurance.

The licenses will be like those already issued to certain foreign-born, legal visitors. Under the new law, applicants will be photographed at a driver services facility, and their photo will be entered into the state's facial recognition database — like the rest of Illinois' licensed drivers— to verify their identity.

But the other states' driving programs for illegal immigrants have been abused. New Mexico and Washington both issue licenses, while Utah issues a permit.

An Associated Press investigation last year found a striking pattern in New Mexico, suggesting immigrants tried to game the system to obtain a license. In one instance, 48 foreign-born individuals claimed to live at a smoke shop in Albuquerque to fulfill a state residency condition. New Mexico does not have a fingerprinting requirement, though it asks applicants to show two proofs of state residency.

Authorities also busted a fraud ring last year that forged documents for illegal immigrants to use after driving from as far as Illinois and North Carolina to obtain a New Mexico license. Gov. Susana Martinez has vowed for years to repeal the decade-old measure, but the legislature has repeatedly rejected such efforts.

Washington's requirements attracted national attention when Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and then-Washington license-holder, revealed his illegal immigration status in an essay for the New York Times Magazine in 2011. Vargas chronicled how he obtained his license. State authorities conducted an investigation that revealed Vargas did not reside at the address he stated in his application, and canceled his license a month after his essay was published.

Utah issues three different driving privilege cards: one for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, another for legal visitors and a third for illegal immigrants. Utah's permit for illegal immigrants is not valid for identification. Illinois' law will follow suit.

Utah's Republican-controlled legislature amended the state's law in 2011 to require illegal immigrants to be fingerprinted, and mandates that the state notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if an applicant's fingerprint check yields a felony on record. If the individual applying has a misdemeanor warrant outstanding, the state must notify the agency that is seeking the person's arrest.

That kind of information-sharing between state and immigration authorities worries Illinois' immigrant-rights advocates, like Tsao, who pushed for the legislation without a fingerprinting requirement. They say fingerprinting could deter potential licensees from applying for fear of being identified and deported.

Local law enforcement officials argue in favor of fingerprinting.

"We could see if they have committed a crime; it could be a crime in another state or it could be a crime in their home country," said John Kennedy, executive director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.

The Illinois secretary of state's office has vehemently defended its facial recognition database as highly sophisticated and accurate. The program uses an algorithm to match more than a dozen facial features that are not easy to alter, such as eye sockets and sides of the mouth.

"The integrity of our driver's license system is a priority," said Henry Haupt, a spokesman for the office.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Edward Acevedo, a Chicago Democrat, said state roads will be safer because illegal immigrants will receive training and be tested before obtaining a license. They also will be required to purchase insurance, an aspect that would save millions for currently insured drivers, Acevedo said.

Tsao's organization estimates uninsured illegal immigrant drivers cause $64 million in damage claims each year, an expense currently covered by increased premiums.

[FF2®]

Help me understand why this is a bad idea.

[Ha Ha Ha]

Originally Posted by FF2®

Help me understand why this is a bad idea.

Can you imagine the horrors if they're also made to pay taxes?

[Warfish]

Give them whatever they want. They're future voters.

The issue of "illegal" immigration is almost as settled as abortion now. A de facto full amnesty of all illegal actions and illegally recived benefits, a pathway to future citizenship, an open doorway for millions more unskilled to enter legally, and at most a token slap on the wrist to illegals, the vast majority of whom will very likely get the benefits without eve paying the fines.

Sounds like a real win for us to me. The faster we change the demographics, the better the U.S. will be, right?

[BushyTheBeaver]

Originally Posted by FF2®

Help me understand why this is a bad idea.

Because a driver's license is a privilege of citizenship, not to mention the closest thing we have to a citizen identity card.

[FF2®]

Originally Posted by BushyTheBeaver

Because a driver's license is a privilege of citizenship, not to mention the closest thing we have to a citizen identity card.

You think the little plastic card stops them from driving?? Shouldn't we want them to pass a drivers test and have insurance?

Don't you want to identify these people?

[piney]

I'm conflicted on this one:

• On one hand it's a state thing, not federal, so since Ill is not my state, while I disagree with the policy I don't see how it affects me per se.
  
• I think the idea that this has failed in other states, or opened the door for abuse makes it a pretty dumb idea.
  
• I like the idea of a backdoor way to get these people documented, but I don't know if every illegal currently driving illegally is really going to suddenly start shelling out for car insurance.

[BushyTheBeaver]

Originally Posted by FF2®

You think the little plastic card stops them from driving?? Shouldn't we want them to pass a drivers test and have insurance?

Don't you want to identify these people?

I know who they are. 75% of the customers in the Lynn Walmart is who they are. Giving them them a license legitimizes their standing...illegal immigrant but legal driver...it's not like the license is going to be stamped with a big red I.

If you think not having a license does not stop them from driving (which is true, of course) what makes you think having a license will cause them to buy insurance? Heck, if your an insurance company, why would you want to insure an illegal immigrant? Seems like a bad risk all the way around.

[isired]

I think you're putting you much credence into the DL as a heavyweight identity document. There are tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands?) of teenagers running around with fake/doctored/fraudulent DLs, and real forgers pretty much have their way with the DLs of any state/country. Outside of a LEO running a DL # through the system, I don't think the DL is too reliable. Might as well make the roads a bit safer, even if it means giving an illegal immigrant a pathway to beer.

[PlumberKhan]

Illegal immigrants shouldn't have licenses.

Neither should 1/2 of the citizens of this country.


Sent from Wharg

[JetPotato]

Illegals driving.

Women in combat.

Jets in Super Bowl?

[brady's a catcher]

Please, it's "undocumented worker". They have every right to come here illegally and drive to work, drive to church, take their kids to school.

I mean, they're gonna do it anyway. Why not start a program that encourages rapists to use condoms? They're gonna do it anyway, might as well make it safer, right?

[PlumberKhan]

Originally Posted by brady's a catcher

Why not start a program that encourages rapists to use condoms? They're gonna do it anyway, might as well make it safer, right?

Only iffin it's legitimate rape and the woman's body didn't shut down on it's own.

Then maybe.

[Warfish]

Originally Posted by JetPotato

Illegals driving.

Women in combat.

Los Yets in Super Bowl?

FYP

[brady's a catcher]

Originally Posted by PlumberKhan

Only iffin it's legitimate rape and the woman's body didn't shut down on it's own.

Then maybe.

The ignorant, inbred right wingers are just as scary as the quasi-intellectual white-guilters. Illegals still shouldn't be able to get driver's licenses though.

[Jetworks]

Originally Posted by brady's a catcher

The ignorant, inbred right wingers are just as scary as the quasi-intellectual white-guilters. Illegals still shouldn't be able to get driver's licenses though.

Spot on about both groups. But the bold section is all this should really be about, whether or not someone who is actively violating the law, in some cases for decades, being afforded a privilege. Seems counter-intuitive in preventing others from breaking the law.

[PlumberKhan]

Originally Posted by brady's a catcher

Illegals still shouldn't be able to get driver's licenses though.

Either should an old person who lacks the hand eye coordination to shove a catheter through their own penis.

But we still let them drive their Chevy Impala's.