State is behind with proof of citizenship

Letter date: 
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Letter publisher: 
StatesmanJournal.com
Letter author: 
Elizabeth Van Staaveren
Letter body: 

The Aug. 1 article, “New forms of ID?” about the state considering alternatives to driver identification implies that the states giving driving privileges to illegal aliens are in the vanguard of a new movement.

Actually, they are laggards in a well-established trend to make state driver licenses more secure by requiring proof of citizenship.

Of our 50 states, three accommodate illegal aliens with driver privileges or licenses. Forty-seven do not.

Of the three, New Mexico’s Gov. Susana Martinez was elected while promising to end issuance of driver licenses to illegal aliens. The New Mexico House passed a bill to that effect in February but the Senate refused to take up the bill. Martinez promises to continue pushing the issue as long as she is governor.

In Utah there is also strong support for ending driver licensing of illegal aliens; the battle there is only paused between legislative sessions.

Tennessee was mentioned as formerly issuing licenses to illegal aliens. The reason they stopped was not stated. It reportedly was because they found large numbers of illegal aliens coming to the state using fake residency papers and sometimes bribing state workers to get the cards.