Some States Give Perks to Illegal Immigrants
Jessica Armentrout
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: News and Opinion
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A few weeks ago, New York state and national politics erupted when Democratic governor Eliot Spitzer proposed a plan that would require state administrators to give driver's licenses to illegal alien applicants. Court clerks balked at the idea and some threatened open defiance by refusal to comply with the law if it were passed. Then the firestorm quieted down and it looked like Gov. Spitzer had abandoned the sinking ship in the face of so much opposition.
More recently, Spitzer has refreshed the plan with endorsement from five of the seven Democratic presidential candidates, including front runners Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. The involvement of presidential candidates is the only reason that New York is being given so much negative attention on this issue, as it deserves. The question was raised in the Democratic presidential debate just this week. Tim Russert asked Hillary Clinton if she agreed with Spitzer's plan of entitlement for illegal aliens. She responded with a double sided answer. She said that she did not necessarily agree with the policy but she understood why he did it. She went on to say that the federal government, specifically George Bush (but certainly not the congressional body she is part of) had failed to take appropriate action towards immigration reform.
In response to criticism of her own answer, Hillary says she would create "comprehensive immigration reform that would make this unnecessary." She didn't say what exactly this "comprehensive reform" would entail, but a $100 bet says that it will cost $20-25 billion and be paid for by freezing the estate tax in 2009… like every other idea she has had in the past six months.
New York will be the eighth state to allow illegal aliens to carry any kind of government issued driver's license or documentation. The previous seven offenders are Washington, Utah, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Michigan and New Mexico. While Gray Davis was governor of California, the state also allowed illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses but Arnold Schwarzenegger repealed that law after he took office. North Carolina and Tennessee repealed their policies of giving licenses to illegal aliens just this year.
More recently, Spitzer has refreshed the plan with endorsement from five of the seven Democratic presidential candidates, including front runners Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. The involvement of presidential candidates is the only reason that New York is being given so much negative attention on this issue, as it deserves. The question was raised in the Democratic presidential debate just this week. Tim Russert asked Hillary Clinton if she agreed with Spitzer's plan of entitlement for illegal aliens. She responded with a double sided answer. She said that she did not necessarily agree with the policy but she understood why he did it. She went on to say that the federal government, specifically George Bush (but certainly not the congressional body she is part of) had failed to take appropriate action towards immigration reform.
In response to criticism of her own answer, Hillary says she would create "comprehensive immigration reform that would make this unnecessary." She didn't say what exactly this "comprehensive reform" would entail, but a $100 bet says that it will cost $20-25 billion and be paid for by freezing the estate tax in 2009… like every other idea she has had in the past six months.
New York will be the eighth state to allow illegal aliens to carry any kind of government issued driver's license or documentation. The previous seven offenders are Washington, Utah, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Michigan and New Mexico. While Gray Davis was governor of California, the state also allowed illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses but Arnold Schwarzenegger repealed that law after he took office. North Carolina and Tennessee repealed their policies of giving licenses to illegal aliens just this year.
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