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March 14, 2005
Senate Bill 227 is a Good Compromise
For two years, citizens of Utah have been asking legislators to make changes to the law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. In the past, the change had not been made because some were concerned that if illegal immigrants weren’t driving legally, they could not obtain insurance. But this last year, it became obvious that because there were so many illegal immigrants coming in from other states to apply for licenses, the Utah drivers license had lost its credibility to other states and the U.S. Government. We needed to make a change.
If we could find a way for illegal immigrants to have a license that was only good for driving in the state of Utah and couldn’t be used as a government I.D., we might have the solution. Sen. Curt Bramble and Rep. Becky Lockhart put many hours of study into the issue during the last year. Senate Bill 227 was the result of the study. Now we can be sure that those who apply for the driving privilege card are legal to drive and obtain insurance.
Now, illegal immigrants want to sue the state because they are being treated differently than citizens of the U.S. This is not directed at any legal, U.S. citizen from Mexico. We have made major efforts to accommodate these undocumented workers and help immigrants to drive legally. There can be no profiling with these driving privilege cards because the card isn’t shown until they are asked to show it to law enforcement.
Until the federal government is ready to step in and help all states solve the problem of illegal immigration, we are left to find our own solutions. It has become clear that we can not wait any longer to deal with the driver's license issue. We have found a solution that will allow an illegal immigrant to drive legally but will not allow them to use the card as a government I.D. to travel outside the state, buy firearms or vote.
Posted by Jeff at March 14, 2005 09:43 AM
Comments
sue the state because they are being treated differently that US citizens. Please......get over yourselves for hell sakes. You are in the country "illegally." Therefore, you aren't a US citizen. Further, driving is a priviledge, not a "right." What "rights" do you think you possess when you sneak into this country illegally? If you want to come here, do it legally. Otherwise, suffer the consequences. Does anybody really think illegals keep the insurance they obtain in force? Look at the court docket and see how many are driving w/o insurance already.
Posted by: maggieheather at March 16, 2005 09:21 AM
Some legal alliens and U.S citezens drive daily w/o insurance. The problem is not only for the illegal immigrants it is for all the drivers. It is the law to have insurance and it is also the law to take a test to prove the knowledge of driving. There are citizens that don't know how to drive even when they posses a D.L and that is also the case for illegal alliens. I also agree that if a D.L is given then it should be good only for the state that provided it and should not take the place of a government identification nor give the right to vote. It should only be good for insurance and driving purposes only.
Posted by: Mary Nava at January 30, 2006 03:31 PM