Silver lining to immigrant driver’s licenses

After reading the editorial in the March 2 Bulletin concerning the chicanery the Legislature was trying to pull off regarding the wording of the ballot measure rewarding illegal immigration with a driver’s license, I realized there may be a silver lining if voters approve the measure.

A few months ago I was waiting in line at the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles with all the documentation I could carry establishing the fact that I was born in this country. My intention was to renew my Oregon driver’s license after having lived out of state for a few years. As I was waiting I overheard the vocal exchange between an elderly gentleman and the DMV clerk. The elderly gentleman was trying to renew his driver’s license that he had held since before the clerk was born. The gentleman was telling the clerk that he did not have a birth certificate and had never had one.

He explained he was born in rural Montana and as far as he knew no birth certificate ever existed documenting his birth. Also, he did not have a passport, as the only time he left the country was to serve in the military.

Eventually he was sent on his way without a driver’s license, but with a laundry list of hoop jumping to see if he could prove if he was an American.

I suppose that if the measure passes, the elderly fellow could go into the DMV and announce he just sneaked across the border and be handed his driver’s license. Absent that, he may want to contract with the same folks that found Obama’s birth certificate.

John T. Parr

La Pine