Should illegal immigrants be granted Driver Licenses in New York State?
Point
Sam Gomez
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: Opinion
I assume that most New Yorkers are aware of the controversy that surrounds Governor Spitzer's recent administrative policy change with regards to issuing driver licenses to New Yorkers regardless of immigration status. The obvious anti-illegal alien sentiment of the neo-conservative movement in recent years has doubtlessly bled over to this issue as well. Most conservative New Yorkers are up in arms about the possibility that illegal aliens would be given the right and privilege of using our state's roads. But is it really a bad thing?
In his press release on September 21, 2007, Spitzer announced that, along with allowing residents of New York to obtain driver licenses regardless of immigration status, he would also be introducing a new regime of anti-fraud measures to increase the security of the licensing system. This is all good news from this side of the table. Most Americans believe that increased security is a good thing, and there's no reason that the integrity of our state licensing system should lag behind the cutting edge. New document verification technology, photo comparison technology, and a new residency requirement are all on the menu for the proposed security change. By bringing more residents into the system, the Governor's release says that real security threats will be acknowledged and dealt with by law enforcement.
This brings us to the number one problem with our nation's current policy regarding illegal aliens, we simply don't know where they all are. I'm sure any person that is concerned about losing their job of wages because of an influx of illegal or undocumented workers would be glad to know that, now, INS could know where they all live. Proof of residency would mean that any illegals attempting to obtain a license would have to provide their legal residency, and that simple step is a huge leap towards dealing with out country's illegal alien problem.
Besides the obvious advantage of identifying and locating illegal aliens, there are also the financial benefits of bringing them into the licensing system. When was the last time that you felt like you were paying too much for car insurance? Instead of switching to GEICO, why not decrease the amount of unlicensed drivers on the road? In every state, insured drivers are forced to shoulder the financial burden that the risk of uninsured drivers imposed on insurance companies. In other words, the more unlicensed drivers, the more your insurance premium will be. If nothing else about this policy change is convincing enough, the fact that you could save money should be. Unlicensed drivers lead to hit-and-runs as well as numerous traffic violations. By deceasing violations and accidents, the change could be good for everybody who pays a lot of money for their car insurance. The Governors press release says, "The State Department of Insurance estimates that expanded license access will reduce the premium costs associated with uninsured motorist coverage by 34% which will save New York drivers $120 million each year. Other states with similar policies have seen their auto insurance rates drop as well." Those statistics speak for themselves.
In his press release on September 21, 2007, Spitzer announced that, along with allowing residents of New York to obtain driver licenses regardless of immigration status, he would also be introducing a new regime of anti-fraud measures to increase the security of the licensing system. This is all good news from this side of the table. Most Americans believe that increased security is a good thing, and there's no reason that the integrity of our state licensing system should lag behind the cutting edge. New document verification technology, photo comparison technology, and a new residency requirement are all on the menu for the proposed security change. By bringing more residents into the system, the Governor's release says that real security threats will be acknowledged and dealt with by law enforcement.
This brings us to the number one problem with our nation's current policy regarding illegal aliens, we simply don't know where they all are. I'm sure any person that is concerned about losing their job of wages because of an influx of illegal or undocumented workers would be glad to know that, now, INS could know where they all live. Proof of residency would mean that any illegals attempting to obtain a license would have to provide their legal residency, and that simple step is a huge leap towards dealing with out country's illegal alien problem.
Besides the obvious advantage of identifying and locating illegal aliens, there are also the financial benefits of bringing them into the licensing system. When was the last time that you felt like you were paying too much for car insurance? Instead of switching to GEICO, why not decrease the amount of unlicensed drivers on the road? In every state, insured drivers are forced to shoulder the financial burden that the risk of uninsured drivers imposed on insurance companies. In other words, the more unlicensed drivers, the more your insurance premium will be. If nothing else about this policy change is convincing enough, the fact that you could save money should be. Unlicensed drivers lead to hit-and-runs as well as numerous traffic violations. By deceasing violations and accidents, the change could be good for everybody who pays a lot of money for their car insurance. The Governors press release says, "The State Department of Insurance estimates that expanded license access will reduce the premium costs associated with uninsured motorist coverage by 34% which will save New York drivers $120 million each year. Other states with similar policies have seen their auto insurance rates drop as well." Those statistics speak for themselves.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Jerry Smith
posted 11/13/07 @ 9:08 AM EST
While it may seem practical to give a license to illegal immigrants, it will cause our license to not be accepted as form of ID for boarding planes, or entering court buildings. (Continued…)
j8g8j8g8
posted 11/20/07 @ 10:25 AM EST
This is merely Hiel Spitzer's scheme to allow illegals to obtain registration to vote (motor voter law) then to buy their votes through the socialist welfare system. (Continued…)
Robert
posted 11/27/07 @ 4:56 PM EST
Spitzer misses the fact that by doing this, you are rewarding ILLEGAL aliens for their ILLEGAL actions. He can twist this whatever way he wants, but he is just promoting more ILLEGAL border crossings, hoping for their votes. (Continued…)
Correction
posted 12/04/07 @ 8:13 PM EST
@ j8g8j8g8
Your use of "Hiel Spitzer" was incorrect. Not only is "Hiel" spelled incorrectly (it is Heil), it should have been "Herr Spitzer". Herr is a title while Heil is directed at the target by another individual. (Continued…)
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