Driving The Debate On Illegals

I’ve tried to stay out of the fray regarding the plan of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in New York state. I even passed on a chance to say something the end of last month when Rudy! jumped into the fray and criticized Spitzer’s plan, even though the “mayor of 9/11” supported Proposition 187 in California in 1994 which approved benefits to illegals (here).

And I’d like to call your attention to this paragraph in the Times story from September 29th…

“The reality is there is so much traffic in false documents that creates part of this problem,” (Giuliani) said. “It is the reason I am so much in favor of a tamper-proof ID card for people who come in from foreign countries and want to work here.”

Well, guess what, Rudy? Richard Clarke, the former chief counterterrorism adviser to the State Department under President Clinton, is in favor of ID cards also. He also agrees with Gov. Spitzer and not with you; as noted here…

The United States needs a reliable and secure personal identification system, with appropriate civil liberties protections, to insure that we know who it is that is being allowed in to sensitive facilities and who is engaging in other controlled activities. Such a system will also reduce the billions of dollars of loss annually in identity theft and related fraud. The Real ID Act passed by Congress, if implemented, will form a basis for such a system based on drivers’ licenses.

…

(The Act has not yet passed, but)…in the interim, states should act to register immigrants, legal and illegal, who use our roadways as New York is doing. From a law enforcement and security perspective, it is far preferable for the state to know who is living in it and driving on its roads, and to have their photograph and their address on file than to have large numbers of people living in our cities whose identity is totally unknown to the government.

Also, another of Rudy’s former allies in New York, William J. Bratton, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, favors Spitzer’s plan, as noted here…

As former Commissioner of the New York City Police Department and now Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, I support efforts that have the potential to solve crimes and improve traffic safety. That’s why I backed legislation in California that would give undocumented immigrants the ability to get a driver’s license once they have provided proof of their identification. It is my belief that by doing that you would reduce the number of hit and runs and increase the number of insured motorists on the road. We would also now have undocumented immigrants’ identifying information on record such as photographs and addresses which could prove helpful in the fight against crime and terrorism.

So let’s see – it turns out that what Spitzer is proposing here is already in place in California (which, truth be told, usually is the state that drives this country in terms of political policy innovation anyway for better or worse; no pun intended, by the way), it would help law enforcement to get a better estimation on how many illegals are residing in New York state and thus would help in fighting terrorism (knowledge is good, as somebody said), it would likely have the benefit of allowing insurers to lower rates with more people paying for coverage, it would put in place a network in New York to track illegals in the event that Congress ever passes the Real ID act…I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to see a whole bunch of benefits here in what Spitzer is trying to accomplish.

And once again, the Repugs fail to acknowledge the reality of the underground economy in this country; if the illegals are denied licenses, I can guarantee you that many will find a reason and a method to operate a vehicle anyway. And if I get into an auto accident with one of these people, I’m not going to care if they’re legal or not; I’m only going to care if they have insurance.

I have to admit that I don’t see much of a reason for anyone to oppose Spitzer here, including Rudy (and Repug State Senate head Joe Bruno).

That is unless, of course, the “mayor of 9/11” is trying only here to demagogue for no good reason and not actually attempt to solve anything.

If that’s Rudy’s true plan, then it’s working to perfection.