Does Hillary Clinton favor Driver’s Licenses for Illegals?
One of the fun things about following the Presidential campaign closely (like the posters on this site apparently do) is you can see an issue coming up and then try to predict the outcome.
About two weeks ago Democratic Governor Elliott Spitzer of New York proposed a policy of having the State government issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. For details and background see
here
Without getting into the pros and cons of this policy (I am against it), it appears that many Democrats and independants in NY are opposed. In opposition are NYC Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly, former Mayor Ed Koch and others. As the polls show, even a majority of New Yorkers (which is a very liberal state) are opposed.
Now remember that we, as a country, just went thru the contentious immigration debate last June where GW Bush’s immigration reform bill was defeated in Congress--twice. In that debate, we found out that two of the Republican candidates--Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney--have changed their formerly permissive views about illegal immigration--and are now against it, i.e., they favor building the border fence, ID cards, etc.
Question: Does New York Senator Hillary Clinton agree with Gov. Spitzer’s policy. So far she has not said either way, but that will change because Mitt and Rudy will be asking her that question, either today, tomorrow, or at this week’s Republican debate.
My prediction: HRC will say she opposes Gov. Spitzer’s policy, which would be the smart move. This will deny her Republican opponents a popular campaign issue. The downside to opposing the issuance of licenses to illegals is she will embarrass the recently-elected NY governor (but hey, that’s politics). As a Republican, I’m hoping HRC backs Elliot Spitzer’s plan, but the Clinton campaign is too shrewd to do that.
Let’s see what happens.
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Comments :
I predict that Hillary...
...will avoid this issue like the black plague :-)
But if she gets cornered on it I think she would say she was guardedly in favor of Spitzer's proposal, but she would then quickly launch into a list of tougher-sounding measures which she also favors.
skymutt: wise and powerful... enlightened...
State's Rights Defense
I'd guess that she'll say it is a state issue, that as President, she'd provide tough border security etc, but it is up to the Governor and State Legislature to decide how to deal with illegal immigrants who are already there.
Do you have to be a citizen
to have a drivers liscense?
Since they are allowing Mexican truckers to drive on our roads, as per the recent court ruling, then why can't other humans that live here drive also?
It is the economy, stupid.
Those who hold valid visas--
students, workers, tourists, so called green card holders--can get driver's licenses.
name the enemy, win the war
Green card and visa
are for short durations, in my state a drivers liscense is for ten years.
Do we honor other countries drivers liscenses, for example, again refering to the recent ruling to allow Mexican truckers to drive all over the US. China ships to Mexico. Mexican truckers cross the border and deliver goods all over the US. Do these Mexican truckers have to have US driver's liscenses. Previously the Mexican truckers delivered to the US border, then American truckers transferred the loads.
As a side note, I was opposed to allowing this Mexican trucking industry to become part of the US delivery system as was Congress who voted overwhelmingly against it. A Califronia ruled that the 'experimental' program would be allowed to go forward, sidestepping the wishes of Congress, and the American people. Noting that these truckers make one third what US truckers make.
It is the economy, stupid.
Moreover,
These truckers who're here illegally, making at least one third of the wages that truckers who're legal citizens make bring down the wages of those truckers who're American citizens, regardless of who they are.
they get valid permission to do so
it's called knowing who is in your country. If those who sneak in illegally want to drive, they should go back to mexico and then ask for permission to come back.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
And who enforces....
This is always the trick.
Should we expect the underfunded overworked motor vehicles department to be the enforcement vehicle for those that break the laws. They are just clerks after all.
It is the economy, stupid.
well if all it takes is
verification if the person applying for the driving license is a legal resident - then require those documents at sign up.
It's already being done. For example my gf had to show her legal working permit to get her license. Without legal papers you should not be processed.
Also those DMV workers never look overworked so don't feed me that bogus line about the govt workers.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Does it differ from state to state?
My son who had his drivers liscense in the zipper pocket of his swimming trunks, forgot to zip the zipper and lost it at Lake Powell. He immediately drove to
the nearest Co. DMV to get it replaced. Sorry kid you need an original copy of your birth certificate. IN spite of the fact that he had myriad other cards etc. that verified his residence etc. Wha........??? You gotta have an orginal birth certificate. So he had to drive 500 miles without a liscense to get back home risking a ticket or worse.
He took the Original Copy of his birth to the local DMV, whereupon they pronounced that it was phony. What...........??? How ridiculous. It took another day to convince the clerk at the DMV that his birth certificate was authentic. Yet your gf a non-citizen has no problems, my son a US native gets hassled. Such is life in the new age.
It is the economy, stupid.
new age
Sorry but your anecdote does not prove that anything is different from the way it was before. Sometimes people are hassled for proof, and sometimes they are not. It has always been this way. DMV procedures do differ from State to State absolutely and are not dependent on Bush.
What the federal government should do is to make it illegal for states to give licenses to illegals. Or at the very least make those offending State licenses invalid as Federal IDs and withhold federal highway funding until the situation is corrected.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
For the sake of self interest
my own, I merely related how this new program has affected my life.
So what about the Mexican truck drivers? What kind of license do they have?
It is the economy, stupid.
NY Licenses for Illegals will fizzle out..
My first reaction was pretty agnostic, even as a NYS resident. I did however have a bit of an issue because of the hoops I told my gf to jump through to get her NY State ID the legal way.
Then, there was talk of the federal government withdrawing the ability for New Yorkers to use there licenses as federal ID (for airports, etc.) That could get frustrating. Which is why I'm predicting that the Spitzer plan won't be enforced.
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if licenses were to be given to illegals
they should not be used as federal IDs. That makes sense. As a New Yorker I hope this lunacy does not go forward :)
Spitzer is a fool. And I don't think Hillary would back his plan.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Given the recent debate over immigration
reform I found it surprising that Gov. Spitzer would go ahead with this plan. It puts many local democratic politicans in a tough position, since this is unpopular for the reasons cited above. I thought the consensus was first we get enforcement staightened out--with a fence, IDs, employer sanctions--then we look at guest worker status (which would solve the driver's license problem).
name the enemy, win the war
My $.02
Seeing as this is a state issue, obviously any state can issue driver's licenses to whomever they want. I'm not a citizen of New York, so my opinion is moot.
As far as "illegals" having driver's licenses in general? Since a driver's license is a license to drive a vehicle, so long as anyone can demonstrate that they can control a vehicle and abide by the relevant laws relating to vehicles, I don't have a problem with them having a license to operate said vehicles.
Of course, someone once decided that a driver's license was the most common form of ID, it became a de-facto state ID card. So licenses of illegal immigrants should be marked as such so that there is no confusion as to the license holder's citizenship status.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Lou Dobbs' disgust for the idea covered in NY Times
Surprise surprise that
skymutt: wise and powerful... enlightened...
Way to go, Lou Dobbs
I'm still waiting for Rudy/Mitt/John/Fred to get on Hillary's case to she whether she is for or against. It's such an easy issue for the Republicans--what are they waiting for?
name the enemy, win the war
Oh.......
Any of those above-mentioned politicians would be disastrous as President of the United States (not that Bush isn't a disaster, because he is), but at least Hillary Clinton's not half as scary as Rudy, Mitt, or Fred.