Question
Homeland Security > Illegal Immigration > Driver's License
Support State-issued driving licenses for illegal immigrants
|
16,222 votes for this question.
Background
The REAL ID Act of 2005 was intended to deter terrorism by establishing national standards for state-issued driver's licenses and non-driver's identification cards.
New York's new policy of issuing driver's licenses to undocumented residents upon presentation of a valid foreign passport goes against the requirements for documentation of legal status and a valid Social Security Number.
Portions of the Real ID Act pertaining to states were scheduled to take effect on May 11, 2008, three years after the law passed, but the deadline has been extended to December 31, 2009.
On January 25, 2007, a Resolution passed overwhelmingly in the Maine Legislature that refuses implementation of the Real ID Act in that State, and demands Congress repeal the law. Many Maine lawmakers believe the law does more harm than good, that it would be a bureaucratic nightmare to enforce, is threatening to individual privacy, makes citizens increasingly vulnerable to ID theft, and would cost Maine taxpayers at least $185 million in five years because of the massive unfunded federal mandates on all the states. The Resolution vote in the Maine House was 137-4 and in the Maine Senate unanimously, 34-0.
On February 16, 2007, Utah unanimously passed a resolution which opposes the REAL ID Act. The resolution states that REAL ID is ""in opposition to the Jeffersonian principles of individual liberty, free markets, and limited government."" It further states that ""the use of identification-based security cannot be justified as part of a 'layered' security system if the costs of the identification 'layer'--in dollars, lost privacy, and lost liberty--are greater than the security identification provides.""
Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington have joined Maine in passing legislation opposing Real ID.
Similar bills are pending in Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., Wyoming and Vermont.
Other states have moved aggressively to upgrade their IDs since 9/11, and still others have staked decidedly pro-Real ID positions, such as California,North Carolina and New York. In announcing the new regulations, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff cited California, Alabama and North Dakota as examples of states that had made progress in complying with Real ID.
see more on Wikipedia
New York's new policy of issuing driver's licenses to undocumented residents upon presentation of a valid foreign passport goes against the requirements for documentation of legal status and a valid Social Security Number.
Portions of the Real ID Act pertaining to states were scheduled to take effect on May 11, 2008, three years after the law passed, but the deadline has been extended to December 31, 2009.
On January 25, 2007, a Resolution passed overwhelmingly in the Maine Legislature that refuses implementation of the Real ID Act in that State, and demands Congress repeal the law. Many Maine lawmakers believe the law does more harm than good, that it would be a bureaucratic nightmare to enforce, is threatening to individual privacy, makes citizens increasingly vulnerable to ID theft, and would cost Maine taxpayers at least $185 million in five years because of the massive unfunded federal mandates on all the states. The Resolution vote in the Maine House was 137-4 and in the Maine Senate unanimously, 34-0.
On February 16, 2007, Utah unanimously passed a resolution which opposes the REAL ID Act. The resolution states that REAL ID is ""in opposition to the Jeffersonian principles of individual liberty, free markets, and limited government."" It further states that ""the use of identification-based security cannot be justified as part of a 'layered' security system if the costs of the identification 'layer'--in dollars, lost privacy, and lost liberty--are greater than the security identification provides.""
Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington have joined Maine in passing legislation opposing Real ID.
Similar bills are pending in Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., Wyoming and Vermont.
Other states have moved aggressively to upgrade their IDs since 9/11, and still others have staked decidedly pro-Real ID positions, such as California,North Carolina and New York. In announcing the new regulations, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff cited California, Alabama and North Dakota as examples of states that had made progress in complying with Real ID.
see more on Wikipedia
No comments on this question yet.
