Comments on Licenses for the Undocumented

I have prepared the following responses to key passages from a report in the El Paso Times. After implementing a law permitting the Undocumented to obtain driver's licenses, the state of New Mexico has endure the aftermath of this controversial domestic policy:

Jose Manuel Escobedo, policy director of the Border Network for Human Rights, said Martinez's program also could force undocumented immigrants into the path of federal immigration officers.

He said people in Las Cruces who are in the country illegally cannot comply with Martinez's order. For them, the 250-mile trip to Albuquerque could be a road to deportation.

They deserve no pity. They should not have been in this country in the first place, and to permit them to obtain a license will certainly bring them under the law. This may be a welcome practice to incarcerate and release those entering the United States without complying with the naturalization process in full.

Martinez's supporters say worries about licensed drivers getting through a Border Patrol checkpoint only prove the insanity of issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.

They ask: If someone is in the country illegally, why issue the person a driver's license in the first place?

No one could have stated it more effectively and succinctly.

Most Democrats in the Legislature have fought Martinez on her attempts to repeal the licensing law, mostly on grounds of humanity.

Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, said households can be a mix of legal and undocumented residents.

Taking away a driver's license may mean the breadwinner cannot get to work, he said. Jennings said the New Mexico law was enacted because the federal immigration system is broken.

Public safety is another reason for the licensing law, said state Rep. Antonio Lujan, D-Las Cruces. He said undocumented immigrants with licenses are more likely to buy auto insurance, thereby making the roads safer for everyone.

This is a joke. Does a legislator really place such confidence in the innate goodness of man? If an individual has already violated the law by entering this country, how can one then assume that the same individual will bother to earn a driver's license and abide by the rules of the road? The cynical argument is far more persuasive and reflects the real outcome of this policy.