Op-Ed - Life, liberty and the pursuit of driver's licenses

During a number of moves over the years, I have had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with DMV in multiple states. Despite different states and different people, one word pretty much sums up all of my DMV experiences: Tedious.

Aside from the standard long lines and arduous waits, I have always been amazed at the difficulty of receiving a driver’s license. During one of my trips, the worker stopped just short of asking me to supply DNA samples to prove my citizenship and to secure my driver’s license.

While I don’t enjoy the amount of red tape involved, I am appreciative of the freedoms and security these checks and balances afford me as a citizen of the United States. I have not forgotten that we are in a global war against terrorism. If spending some extra time at DMV helps to keep my wife, son and family safe, than I will gladly wait in lines and follow all procedures asked of me.

Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that our Governor shares the same idea. Governor Eliot Spitzer recently announced an administrative policy change that will give all New Yorkers the opportunity to apply for state driver licenses without regard to immigration status. This plan, which will grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, has baffled me and everyone I have spoken to. The title “illegal” says it all. They are not legally here and therefore should not be granted rights and privileges reserved for citizens of the United States.

Here is a quick background on NY State driver’s licenses, as described on the Governor’s website: State law requires license applicants to prove their identity, date of birth and fitness to drive, and to provide a social security number (SSN). In 2002, a state regulation was adopted to allow applicants who are ineligible for a SSN to also apply for driver’s licenses. Following this step, the DMV then issued an administrative policy that effectively made it impossible for illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses by stipulating that the only way to define “ineligibility” would be through obtaining a formal letter of ineligibility from the Social Security Administration, a letter that is only obtainable by individuals who have legal immigration status.

It is the last policy that the administration is changing. I don’t know about you, but the plan sounds like it made perfectly good sense to me and was well thought out. I reviewed the anticipated benefits of the policy change, but was hard pressed to find anything that outweighed the fact that the individuals in question are in our country illegally. Any possible logic in this plan is flawed.

Thumbs down to Governor Spitzer.

To Write To The Governor:

Eliot Spitzer

State Capitol

Albany, NY 12224