Stuck In The Shadows, Unsafe On The Roads

The Nation: N.Y. Gov. Spitzer's Illegal Immigrant License Plan Was Wise, But Doomed To Fail

(The Nation)  This column was written by Andrea Batista Schlesinger and Amy Traub.

---

Governor Eliot Spitzer's controversial plan to make driver's licenses available to all New York residents unraveled before our eyes. The culprit? Intense pressure from conservatives and lackluster support from progressives. The original plan, unveiled on September 21, would have brought New York's undocumented immigrants -- as many as 1 million people -- "out of the shadows," while improving safety and security by reducing the number of untrained, uninsured drivers and by verifying the identities of hundreds of thousands of people. Since unlicensed drivers are a factor in five times as many fatal accidents as those with licenses, the proposal to expand licensing would have significantly increased the safety of New York's streets. But it was not to be. First, Governor Spitzer shifted course with a nonsensical multi-tiered plan that pleased no one. This week, he reversed himself again, completely abandoning any effort to provide licenses to undocumented New Yorkers. The story of what went wrong is a powerful illustration of what happens when progressive voices fail to speak out for immigration policies that benefit everyone.

From the moment Governor Spitzer announced the drivers license policy, Lou Dobbs and his junior varsity imitators immediately got to work denouncing and distorting the policy. "This governor needs training wheels," an angry Dobbs told his audience as the debate heated up in October. Critics ignored strict new security measures in Spitzer's proposal, like the fact that immigrants would need a verified foreign passport to obtain a license. Sensing an opportunity to boost their own ratings, elected officials stooped to new lows with comments like, "Osama bin Laden is somewhere in a cave with his den of thieves and terrorists, and he's probably sabering the cork on some champagne right now, saying, 'Hey, that governor's really assisting us.'" (Thank you, New York State Assembly minority leader James Tedisco.)

GOP leaders accused the governor of helping terrorists board airplanes and the Conservative Party went so far as to release a commercial announcing that "Along the Mexican border, we lock up illegal immigrants. In New York, Governor Spitzer wants to give them driver's licenses. Tell Spitzer he is wrong." Many mistakenly believed that the new licenses would actually enable undocumented immigrants to vote. Close to two-thirds of New York residents opposed the plan. Yet rather than digging in to set the record straight on the issues driving public opinion, most elected officials - even those in safe seats on the left - pandered to fear and failed to give Spitzer the support he needed.

After a month of fierce debate on his original plan, Spitzer caved and sought support elsewhere: from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. He retreated from his initial policy, endorsed the federal REAL ID Act and proposed a three-tiered licensing system. Under that plan, undocumented immigrants would have been eligible for a special class of license, a nonfederally recognized ID. These new third-class licenses would have branded their holders as undocumented, making it unlikely that immigrants who live in fear of deportation would be willing to engage with the system at all and register for them. The governor's retreat was never a successful compromise: it alienated his strongest supporters while failing to appease his fiercest critics. It comes as little surprise that this policy, too, was quickly abandoned.

What driver's license opponents cannot admit is that undocumented immigrants are here to stay. Opposing their access to driver's licenses implicitly endorses the effort to drive them from the country, despite the public's opposition to mass deportation. While spending billions of dollars on massive crackdowns, detention facilities capable of holding tens of thousands and raids that separate children from their parents may succeed in driving some people out of the country, it will not induce millions of others who risked their lives to come and work in the United States to leave. And it's a good thing, too, since we rely on them every day as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers and members of our community. This is the case that our leaders should have been making, instead of hiding as the poll numbers slid.

What we need are smart and fair public policies that acknowledge that undocumented immigrants are integral members of our communities and that strive to make them - and us - safe. Policies designed to make undocumented immigrants miserable, like the denial of a driver's license, will do just that - further marginalizing people who live among us to the detriment of all. When immigrants can't obtain a legal driver's license, they can't buy auto insurance - driving up rates for everyone. Many never learn the rules of the road, causing accidents. Others may be at the mercy of employers for their transportation needs, deepening the potential for exploitation.

Understanding this rationale underscores the fact that Spitzer's new proposal is not only bad politics but bad policy, because it undermined the greatest strength of his original plan: its universality. Democratic State Senator Eric Schneiderman, one of the few brave enough to speak out in support of the original proposal, argued correctly that "our systems for licensing and insuring drivers work best for their intended purposes when everyone participates in them." Bringing immigrants into the economic and social mainstream lifts us all up, whether the issue is eradicating exploitation in the workplace, making sure residents are not afraid to report crimes to the police or improving the safety of our roads. Governor Spitzer's original driver's license policy did that. A two- or three-tiered system never can. The switch back to doing nothing leaves us with the same underground society that undermines us today.

With appeals that equate immigrants with terrorists, driver's license opponents were able to drive the discussion - and drive Spitzer right into a policy that is even worse for New York and for our country. (Other states, from New Hampshire to Idaho, have been lining up to oppose REAL ID on privacy and budgetary grounds.)

It is easy to blame Spitzer for retreating in the face of struggle, and we should. But we should also recognize that if Democrats stay silent on immigration policy at the federal and local level, they will have to live with the consequences of a multi-tiered society that drags us all down.

[standlee5]

Notice Hillary and the rest of the Democrat pack is switching gears and backtracking on their illegal stance. If we hadn''t rsised such a ruckus the Democrats would have had them all legalized with free college tuition, opening the borders to all. The more the merrier. All this hospitality compliments of the middle class taxpayer. Oh yea, BTW, double tuition for all American kids because they''re not disadvantaged and the illegals have been made to "feel" unwelcome and we must pay for their hurt feelings.

[standlee5]

I pulled into HOME DEPOT parking lot early yesterday morning and there was no less than 100 people who appeared to be undocumented illegal immigrants, loitering in the parking lot. They had bed rolls it looked like a homeless camp. Home Depot has contributed to the problem by allowing them to hang out in their parking lots for employment by illegal employers who don''t collect payroll taxes and pay cash under the table. It''s also been promoted by local officials who have turned a blind eye to all this illegal labor activity. In the not too distant past it was illegal to pay cash under the table but they don''t seem to care now days. It''s all about the illegal.

[bennyblack1]

Illegal immigrants and undocumented workers are an unnecessary part of our communities. They are criminals bringing drugs and God only knows what else over the border. That is why they are undocumented. They won''t go to INS because they will have a background check and a physical/mental check. If they fail anyone of these, they will be turned back. They have to be able to pass a background check, and be healthy. The only reason we should let a sick immigrant into the country is for treatment BY PERMISSION. And the treatment will have been arranged between the two governments, as well as payment. Under no circumstance should an undocumented worker be allowed to pass through the border, caught, and then let go as if he didn''t break the law.

[b-easy63]

Progressive voices are not enough. Even if all Dems were for this (and they are not) pragmatism and the spectre of the Independent vote would haunt this call.

1. Independent voters favor the rule of law and NO amnesty or other perks for illegals. Like many other Americans they do not buy the lie that they just do jobs Americans won''t do and that we cannot deport them. We KNOW if they are indeed doing jobs Americans don''t want--then they should go to the legal immigrants waiting in line--NEVER reward the line jumper--it only encourages more.

2. We KNOW that if we are to believe Homeland Security and fighting terrorism works--the gov. better be able to find and remove 12 million people. If it can''t remove illegals then it probably can''t find and remove the lesser number of terrorists in our midst.

3. WE KNOW that the reason the liscense won''t work is that people have to have insurance to drive and that costs money. MOre money than illegals make doing those jobs Americans don''t want to do. So they will continue to forge BC''s and SS#s and fake liscenses and they will continue to not have insurance--no matter the law. It was already tried in other states, it failed. They don''t want to pay, they''ve just come to use us and play. WE KNOW this, it is the idealists and bleeding hearts among us who don''t know and don''t want to know.

[b-easy63]

CONGRESS - Make it possible to immigrants to enter this country legally with a verifiable job offer. That process served this country very and can be continued if employers.
Posted by gscotth at 11:42 PM : Nov 17, 2007

Better yet, don''t allow any employer to make a verifiable job offer to any immigrant without first posting that job for a certain amount of time to American citizens, with video of the interviews and documentation that American citizens declined the job.

Some companies deliberately do not post jobs or do not hire AMericans that apply and pretend no American wanted the job, so they can hire illegals and avoid SS, OSHA and Worker''s comp taxes.

[b-easy63]

What we really need are policies that put American citizens and our rule of law first and does not try to cater to potential future citizens. There is a huge disconnect here. WE want the immigrants in this country who come in the legal way and we do not want to grant amnesty or have people who circumvent the laws. We also don''t want preferential treatment for various races due to demographics or buying power. This means we want the official language to be English not Spanish or French or Portugese or Taiwanese and we want the laws to not offer preferential treatment and winking at the failure to obey the laws like it is presently doing. Nothing good can come from forcing people who came here illegally down our throats. It will not only result in resentment and frustration, but can (as recently occurred in TX ) result in deadly violence with the majority of Americans endorsing the acts of shooting the other people. If we are curious about ethnic or race wars, or economic collapse and being a third world country; or anarchy-- we certainly are proceeding at an enviable clip towards it all.

[alanrobisch]

ps all mexicans and latin americans don''t come illegally and they stay at home in the same circumstances as their fellow illegals. I think that work visas should be granted to any person with a gauranteed job in the US after screening for known criminals et cetera

[alanrobisch]

Stop punishing illegals for doing what any one of us would have done in their situation.

And start punishing politicians for not closing our borders to illegals.
Posted by ubrew12 at 06:08 PM : Nov 17, 2007

You have got to be kidding me. These people are knowingly breaking the law and come back repeatedly after being deported and its not their fault. Short of the berlin wall crossing into the US cannot be prevented and many come in on non immigrant visas and then just stay.

[lsiders]

Show them the return path to Mexico and all points south. We are not the world''s path to the good life.

[gkc99]

Oregon is a state where politicians and college professors support letting illegal immigrants be charged in-state tuition at state universities, but if you''re a US citizen from another state, look out! Oregon won''t even let you become an Oregon resident for tuition purposes, in clear violation of the US Constitution and case law.

You''re better off being an illegal Mexican in ORegon than you are being a legal US citizens from California or Washington, according to the Oregon Elite.

[mediapreachr]

Reality check-today you''re not only working to support yourself and your family,also you are paying for the mega rich elite of mexico and S.america.
They have simply decided to get rid of their poor and send them over the border-nobody ever bothered to consult me or you.
You think mexico''s main export is oil?Wrong...is poverty.

[ubrew12]

Stop punishing illegals for doing what any one of us would have done in their situation.

And start punishing politicians for not closing our borders to illegals.

It''s wrong to punish illegals by denying them drivers licenses and health care. It''s right to deny them entry in the first place (and deport them if possible) and pressure (and I mean with military force, if necessary) their home countries to redistribute the wealth in their horribly inequitable countries so that they can survive in the countries of their births.

Example: in the Philippines today, 1% of the country owns 70% of all the wealth in the country (in the U.S. the figure is closer to 40%). No wonder the poor have to emigrate, and create problems in countries that are more equitable to their poor, like the U.S.

BTW, Latin America is even WORSE than the Philippines!!!

This is a labor issue, folks!!!

[tucano2]

Wise only if used to detain and deport the illegal aliens back to the 200 or so countries they came from. The invasion of the USA by these criminals can be compared to an individual, say an 8 year old boy, being repeatedly gang-raped.

[alanrobisch]

Anyone who thinks giving illegals licenses will make them safe and insured drivers should wake up and smell the coffee.

Posted by trillion1 at 07:56 AM : Nov 17, 2007

I couldn''t agree more. If your illegal you don''t want contact with a govt agency for any reason and it is counterintuitive to believe that they will willingly come forward to be tested and then if they pass being required to pay money most don''t have to pay for insurance

[jetranger7]

URGENT NEWS BULLITIN : The Govenor of OREGON is attempting to let ILLEGALS in the state of OREGON get Drivers Licenses, this came out Friday on the web site, WWW.OOIDA.COM. Here we go again with another politician not doing their job ! Probably because maybe of some campaign donations from the Corporate Farmers up there or something. What happened to representing the TAX Paying Citizens of this country who''ve been here 25 - 30 years or more, what about that ?? Were letting our politicians sell us out, just like we did when they brought up NAFTA & GATT, which they lied to us about, and now do nothing about ! Time to take a stand people, Act, the time is NOW !

[trillion1]

Anyone who thinks giving illegals licenses will make them safe and insured drivers should wake up and smell the coffee.

[tbweb]

This is about discrimination out of pure, cussed hatred, thats all.

Posted by ubrew12 at 11:56 PM : Nov 16, 2007,,,

I disagree because when the issue did not touch me personally I was originally sympathetic to Mexican illegals until I had a personal experience when one hit my car and drove off, and although I had insurance I still had to come up with the deductible. The Officer who took my accident report said its very common, car accidents, crime and mentioned even when they have video and fingerprints they still cannot catch, locate or track illegals, in most cases they don''t even have an address and the cars are stolen! Once you give illegals a Drivers License they can drive a Taxi and then you have a potential murderer, rapist and criminal driving your wife, girlfriend or daughter around and who knows what may happen to them! Until the issue touches you personally of course it seems harmless from a distance. But the basic point is still the same, the United States is a sovereign nation and they are here illegally disrespecting U.S. Borders and Laws and therefore are criminals plain and simple and there is no getting around that simple fact!

[rudy654-2009]

Basically, giving driver''s licenses to the undocumented could have had the positive results of having those people insured and tested as drivers. Since that isn''t going to happen, if you get hit by some uninsured and unlicensed undocumented immigrant, who runs away, don''t come back here and whine. You got what you wanted. And if you people don''t want them here, then you stop buying the produce that they pick. Just buy the imported produce. If you are not doing that, then shut up about illegals.

[ubrew12]

Someday, this will be seen as a quentecential case, in which the American people were given a chance to turn away from ethnocentrism, and the depths that that leads to. Gov Spritzers stance will be seen as a shining light to which the people could have chosen, but they were by then so screwed up they couldn''t see right. Truly remarkable how those on both right and left abandoned common sense, as well as abandoned those who depend on safe drivers on our roads. This has nothing to do with immigration reform, which is about building the biggest ******* fence you can build on our southern border. This is about discrimination out of pure, cussed hatred, thats all.

[lilathe]

By undocumented immigrants - do you mean they are like undocumented pharmacists? (drug dealers) or for instance they are just doing an undocumented withdrawel (bank robber)?
Illegals are not "here to stay" nor do honest law-abiding American citizens have to acknowledge that or agree with it. Illegals can and will be deported.

If you feel so strongly supportive, then you need to research what country is the "most deserving" of your compassion (India, Darfur, Haiti maybe) and sponsor a family for LEGAL immigration.