Should Oregon offer driver cards to undocumented immigrants? NO.

Senate Bill 833 would grant official driver privilege cards to illegal aliens.

The referendum to overturn this law was mobilized by Oregonians for Immigration Reform and the Protect Oregon Driver Licenses (PODL) Committee. On Oct. 18, the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office announced that the referendum qualified and would be placed on the November 2014 ballot.

Earlier this year, Gov. John Kitzhaber gave a speech on the steps of the state Capitol announcing he was forming “a diverse work group … to come together around changes in our driver’s license laws, allowing people to come out of the shadows and contribute to our state’s economic recovery. Oregonians need to be able to drive back and forth to their jobs.”

While I disagree with the governor that illegal aliens are “Oregonians,” I do agree that by giving them driver privilege cards, they will be able to drive back and forth to jobs. Jobs that, of course, they cannot legally hold, for employers who can’t legally hire them and using Social Security numbers stolen from American citizens. The governor ignores the fact that an estimated 120,000 illegal aliens are stealing jobs from citizens. He ignores the estimated 160,000 Oregon citizens out of work and Oregon’s U-6 unemployment rate — including part-time employees and marginally attached workers — of 16.9 percent. He can’t connect the dots between unemployment and easy availability of illegal labor to employers.

When we heard the governor’s May Day speech, we contacted his Citizens Representative Office and asked to become part of the “diverse work group” being formed. There followed a long, frustrating saga of requests, refusals and lies from the governor’s office and staff, and four Freedom of Information filings — all fruitless. As time went by, we discovered the governor’s work group had actually been meeting in secret for more than a year, with input only from those who stood to profit from the plans, either politically or personally.

The public interest was completely shut out. While citizens were barred from the secret meetings, officials from the Mexican Consular office were invited to participate.

SB 833 was quickly rammed through the Oregon Legislature without the usual hearings process, causing citizens to start a challenge to the bill almost immediately.

The required number of valid signatures for a referendum was 58,142. We collected more than 75,000 in a little more than three months, from towns and counties all over Oregon. In the first validation test by the Secretary of State, a 1,000-signature sample is taken, and 9.44 percent of the 1,000 are automatically deducted without examination on the assumption of at least 9.44 percent inaccuracy. However, after the first screening, the PODL referendum still had enough valid signatures to qualify — a rarity among initiatives. Our quick success was due to widespread indignation over SB 833.

As a result, Oregon voters will have the opportunity to decide the issue. There should be in-depth discussions allowing voters a chance to think about the issue and learn the true, serious ramifications and consequences of the bill. To this end, OFIR and the PODL Committee plan to expand their website in coming weeks and will be available to speak to civic groups.

Proponents of giving driver cards to illegal aliens claim it will make our roads safer. They have no data to back up these claims. The history of convictions among illegal aliens for drunk driving and drug gang involvement shows otherwise.

Granting official Oregon driver privilege cards to illegal aliens is not only dangerous, it undermines the rule of law on which our nation was founded. SB 833 should be voted down.

Jim Ludwick is communications director for Oregonians for Immigration Reform and the Protect Oregon Driver Licenses Committee. For more information, visit www.protectoregondl.org.

NOTE:  This article was printed in the weekly Viewpoints section of the News-Register beside an article by Ron Louie, retired Hillsboro police chief. Louie's article was headed YES and presented arguments in favor of SB 833.