October 29, 2007
Spitzer's License to Make Almost Everyone Unhappy
Even though he has amended his plan to give illegal immigrants the opportunity to get driver's licenses, Governor Spitzer can't make everyone happy.
The governor's new plan has three tiers: There will be the Real ID (the one passed by Congress in 2005 - the very program Spitzer's own Homeland Security director criticized last month) which will be offered to citizens and legal immigrants, plus, per the NY Times, "an enhanced driver’s license that New Yorkers who are citizens could use to cross the Canadian border without a passport, and a less expensive, limited license available to illegal immigrants and others that would not be a valid federal identification."
However, state Republicans are still skeptical of the tiered plan; State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's spokesman remarked, "There is more opposition now across the board than there was before he flipped." And some Democratic politicians, immigrants' rights and civil rights advocates think it's a stunning betrayal of the governor's earlier commitment to immigrants - not to mention the fact that illegal immigrants may not even opt to get this kind of license. The NYCLU's Donna Lieberman had damning words for the new plan, which included, "By supporting Real ID...the governor is handing over the personal information of all New Yorkers to the president with the worst record on civil liberties in the history of the United States."
Of course, there are some people who are happy: Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Mayor Bloomberg, and different state police unions. Spitzer tried to use the Metrocard as a metaphor when discussing the plan with NY1: "I don’t think it is a privilege any more than buying a MetroCard is a privilege. When we walk down into the subway system to but a MetroCard, no one says, ‘Prove you are a citizen;’ no one says, ‘Where did you grow up?’ It is a document that reflects a payment you paid to get onto the metro – the subway."
Photograph of Governor Spitzer and Secretary Chertoff at Saturday's press conference about NY's driver's license plan by Kevin Wolf/AP
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This is ludicrous. Sorry to burst your bubble Bloomberg, but yes, getting a driver's license IS a privilege that should be afforded to only legal residents of the U.S.
I agree w/ #1.
Oh yeah right. Getting a state issued ID is EXACTLY the same as buying a metro card to ride the subway. What a dumbass.
JP Lynch,
What's Bloomberg got to do with this? I assume you meant Spitzer.
BohoPrep:
My bad - Yes, I meant Spitzer. I misread which idiot was comparing a Metrocard to a driver's license.
So that means that you can still drive without a license and just get fined if you get caught but still be under the radar and safe from being expelled from the country as far as the New York/Untied States is concerned.
Nice set up we got here.
Chertoff/Skeletor couldn't be bothered to put a tie on for this press conference?
Governor Spitzer is just another globalist, who sees nothing wrong in issueing Drivers Licenses to just about anybody? Have we not learned our lesson from the World Trade Center conflagration? Seems not because the liberal press, the international globalists, activist judges, free marketeers and the open-border brain-dead zombies will just carry on until the first nuclear devise is exploded in New York City or another metropolis.
Anti-Illegal immigration patriots and activists are fighting a globalist war. Our country is being assaulted by cheap, inferior goods and impoverished foreign labor with no end in sight.
That will leave mostly globalists left and open-border fanatics. Alas, most people do not realize that the foreign wars pales against immigration occupation in contrast. The amount of your tax dollars spent on foreign nationals to supply them and their large famililies with welfare needs. Tancredo and very few politicans have seen the menace to our society, because the majority have their fingers in the big business cookie jar. We have seen the enemy and unless we stand united, we have lost our country to the Internationalists.
Let's get Heath Shuler's new Democratic enforcement bill to a vote in the U.S. House
DEAR OPPONENTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ....
.... AND SUPPORTERS OF ATTRITION THROUGH ENFORCEMENT & SELF-DEPORTATION,
Hard on the heels of your tremendous defeat of the DREAM Act amnesty in the Senate last week, we have our best chance yet in this Democratic-controlled Congress for improving enforcement against illegal immigration.
(Some email services failed to deliver my analysis of our amnesty victory, and many of your computer's blocked the analysis from getting into your in-box, we are learning. You can read the analysis at: http://numbersusa.com/actionalerts )
North Carolina Democratic Representative Heath Shuler will soon be introducing a great immigration enforcement bill:
The SAVE ACT (Secure America with Verification and Enforcement)
This bill (it will have no bill number until introduced) is far more than a gesture to show that Shuler is on the side of the American workers.
Congressman Shuler appears to be deadly serious about getting this bill enacted and removing the jobs magnet for illegal immigration. He is moving the ball on this bill a whole lot better than he did as an NFL quarterback, completing passes to fellow Representatives every day as he gets their signature as co-sponsors on the floor of the House.
He is fighting for immigration rationality and the rule of law with the kind of winning confidence he showed in college when he was runnerup for the Heisman Trophy.
NumbersUSA will make its formal endorsement of this bill later today.
YOU CAN CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE HERE FOR FREE:
www.numbersusa.com
All these illegals should be made legal ASAP.
I mean, let's be real, they aren't going to be kicked out of the USA, so why not make them legal and have them start paying taxes, get insurance on the vehicles, etc.
I'm not for giving driver's licenses to them until they are legal.
"I don’t think it is a privilege any more than buying a MetroCard is a privilege. When we walk down into the subway system to but a MetroCard, no one says, ‘Prove you are a citizen;’ no one says, ‘Where did you grow up?’ It is a document that reflects a payment you paid to get onto the metro – the subway."
So, wait... driving is not a privilege any more? It's a right now? That means I can decline to get a license and, therefore, not subject myself to "implied consent."
Whatever your thoughts on undocumented immigration, PLEASE, PLEASE get facts straight. This one liner "immigrants come and get on welfare" is completely inaccurate and misleading. You may argue they "take our jobs", they "ruin our national identity", they "break our laws", whatever you want. I'm not saying you have to agree w/me on this issue. But please get at least this one fact straight:
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS DO NOT GET WELFARE!!!
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS DO NOT GET WELFARE!!!
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS DO NOT GET WELFARE!!!
Look, there is a minuscule # of undocs who somehow manage to get a welfare check. But it is really difficult to do. Plus, most immigrants come here to send $$$ back home. You can't send a welfare check to Mexico. Finally, immigrants WORK once they are here. All the statistics bear this out. In fact, the unemployment rate for immigrants in most large cities is lower than ANY native born group (whites included).
Even the Center for Immigration studies, a right-wing, anti-immigration think tank says this in a study of the fiscal impacts of immigration:
"our findings show that many of the preconceived notions about the fiscal impact of illegal households turn out to be inaccurate. In terms of welfare use, receipt of cash assistance programs tends to be very low, while Medicaid use, though significant, is still less than for other households."
The "immigrants on welfare" is one of the most potent images used by anti-immigrant groups, but it is almost completely untrue.
I'm done. This whole debate makes my blood boil.
And btw, Heath Shuler sucked on the Redskins and he sucks in Congress...