Memo to homeland security
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:29 pm
This is why we shouldn't do jack shit for illegal immigrants. Give them a deposit slip and they will find a way to clean out your bank account:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060224/ap_ ... nt_driversTenn. Halts Immigrant Driving Certificates
By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 48 minutes ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants Friday after investigations found they were being shuttled from other states, using fake residency papers and sometimes bribing state workers to get the cards.
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Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely said the program was being suspended while his department and state investigators reassess it "to ensure we're doing what's best for Tennesseans."
"This program was a good idea in theory, but there have been issues with implementation," Nicely said.
The certificates, which are stamped "not valid for identification," were meant to improve driving safety by making sure immigrants living in the state knew traffic rules. Recent federal investigations found that illegal immigrants were traveling hundreds of miles from other states to get the certificates illegally.
Non-citizens who can prove they are in the country legally will be allowed to get the certificates beginning March 6, after employee retraining.
Tennessee is among 11 U.S. states that have not required proof of legal residence to obtain driving documents.
In early 2001, the state started issuing full driver's licenses without requiring a
Social Security number, and more than 180,000 people obtained licenses. The driving certificates were created in 2004 to satisfy homeland security concerns; about 51,000 were issued.
Applicants are now required to provide two documents, such as a utility bill or lease, to show they live in Tennessee, along with a Social Security number or a sworn affidavit if there is none. They also must pass an eye exam, a driving rules test and a road test.
Nicely said the department was flooded with certificate requests, and employees were overwhelmed trying to determine which documents were acceptable to show residency.
Two major federal arrests in recent months exposed shuttles bringing South and Central American immigrants from as far away as New Jersey to state licensing centers in Knoxville, where the immigrants got certificates using fake residency papers.
In January, a third sweep revealed what prosecutors called a conspiracy in which state license examiners in Murfreesboro accepted bribes to provide illegal immigrants with driver's licenses and certificates without testing.
Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, said suspending the program "endangers everyone traveling the roads in Tennessee."
"The certificate program, while discriminatory to begin with, at least ensured that drivers were trained and had insurance," Weinberg said. The ACLU had favored the full driver's licenses.
keeping citizens from Mexico from registering to vote here in the US. Last time DL's for illegals were going through the CA legislature, I heard an interview with a CA Democrat where they actually said, "Well, we know that undocumented migrants won't also fill out the voter registration part of the form because they know right from wrong and will make the 'right' decision." Oh, okay. 'Cept that they already blew the right/wrong thing when they came here illegally in the first place. Some Dems slay me.