California Allows (More) Illegal Immigrants to Get Driver’s Licenses
I don’t see how this could go wrong:
Laboring late into the night Thursday to finish their work for the year, state lawmakers acted to allow many more immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain California driver’s licenses, a measure Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign.
. . . .
The driver’s license measure would significantly expand the number of immigrants in the country illegally who could have such documents. Some young, undocumented residents are already eligible for licenses under state law, if they qualify for temporary federal work permits.
“This bill will enable millions of people to get to work safely and legally,” Brown said in a statement issued immediately after the bill passed. “Hopefully, it will send a message to Washington that immigration reform is long past due.”
The bill, AB 60, by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville), originally would have provided licenses to immigrants who could show that they pay taxes or otherwise work in the United States. But it was changed to ask the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine what documentation would be required.
The bill requires a special mark and notation on the licenses, the initials DP (driver’s privilege) instead of DL (driver’s license). The notation would say the document “does not establish eligibility for employment or public benefit.”
Countdown to the lawsuit arguing that such a notation is unfair and unconstitutional in 5…4…3…2…1…
It’s still illegal to come to this country, er, illegally . . . right?
Not sure. Seems it’s more of an issue for the government if you were born here.
Rob Crawford (e6f27f) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:14 amIt’s still illegal to come to this country, er, illegally . . . right?
Not if you’re transporting drugs, voting in US elections, or buying guns from Eric Holder. Then you get Food Stamps, an Obama phone, a California Driver’s License, and a get-out-of-jail-free card good for 3 fatal hit-n-runs.
ropelight (e98634) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:38 amIf we don’t respect our own border we can’t expect anyone else to respect it.
See – America is exceptional after all.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:50 amMaybe Moonbeam will explain the factual foundation for his idea that having a drivers’ license will make it safer for people to drive to work. Millions of drivers take to the highways and byways daily, presumably to go to work, and any number do not make it due to mishaps in traffic. Anyone who equates holding a CA drivers’ license with being a competent operator of a motor vehicle should have their head examined.
I guess this is where you young-uns say “epic fail”.
gramps, the original (6de5db) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:52 amsecond class drivers… oh the horror and anguish over the shame of the scarlet letters DP.
However, if they use the license at their workplace they may find that insurance companies will not cover drivers of company vehicles with a DP license. Or the driver may be signaling to the boss that he/she is here illegally. (other documents are forged, if here legally, no reason for DP license status)
steveg (794291) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:55 amSmall businesses that rely on cheap labor won’t like the rule much either because it exposes employees as DP. Right now the employee can give some excuse about not having a license that has to be accepted. They suffer economically for this lack of a license, but their excuse can’t be challenged.
Now they’ll show up to work in a car, the boss will say “congratulations, now you can drive the company truck now and then so we need to copy your license and give you that $2HR raise we offer for that… ooops, DP…. hmmmm funny looking green card, SS # 654-32-1234, we get letters from SSA and State of CA saying you have same SS# as some woman in Hemet and a guy in Orosi… now a DP license… gee I wonder if this guy is illegal? …”
silly fascists in the same legislation with the illegals’ driver’s licenses what do they do?
They take steps to ensure their illegal pals have a whole lot fewer jobs to drive to.
The upside I guess is this is same same as forcing dumbass Californians to underwrite a free subsidy for the robotics industry.
happyfeet (c60db2) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:21 amIMO, the answer to the destruction of California is not so much stopping illegal immigration but of stopping fair share dues by non-members of public employee unions. Illegal immigration is just a result of this. Several of us years ago filed Hudson lawsuits and won, but unions fight this tooth and nail.
Ever since Brown signed the bill allowing this on his last day of his first term, the torrent of campaign funds from these extorted dues has funded the takeover of government of the one party they support: Dems. I suppose they would have bought both parties, but why bother?
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=475&invol=292
Patricia (be0117) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:22 amAnd motor voter will make sure CA stays the course.
cedarhill (a1c4a9) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:28 amThe practice of denying driver’s licenses to people not legally in this country, which started in the mid 1990s, is going to die out, although they may issue things that carefully state this is no proof of residence, and does not give anyone a right to work.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:31 amThe Polish people in Chicago avoid the issue altogether with International Drivers Licenses, now valid for three years. Annoys the hell out of cops and personal injury attorneys. 😉
nk (875f57) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:41 amWe issue IDs to people that are not tied to citizenship. Is it that citizenship is no longer considered to be a significant part of our identity?
Our transition from free citizens to dependent consumers is almost complete.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:48 amI think the government has no right to require any citizen to have identity papers. ID should only be required of foreign visitors. Seriously. Good luck with that, hippie, right?
nk (875f57) — 9/13/2013 @ 8:57 amWouldn’t it be amusing if Californians found their ID no longer accepted outside California? Say by TSA? Make Californians get a passport to visit the other 56 states?
SPQR (768505) — 9/13/2013 @ 9:00 amI hear that the bill has something in it preventing employment discrimination by the card.
But if you have the DP card and show it and the employer uses E-verify, isn’t that incmpatible?
I guess if you know the employer uses E-verify, you won’t be there in the first place.
luagha (2b367b) — 9/13/2013 @ 9:09 amSo if someone shows his employer his “driving privilege” card, which is only issued to illegal aliens the employer can’t “discriminate.”
And by “discriminate” the state of Kali means follow federal law. Since per the IRCA of 1986 the employer can’t knowingly hire or retain an illegal alien or anyone else not authorized to work in this country.
This is why employers can’t be the first line of immigration law enforcement. Which is what the left has subtly done. The feds aren’t enforcing the border, but they will go after employers who don’t walk the tightrope between doing just enough to comply with the law but not too much.
I somehow doubt that the feds would get involved if Kali sanctioned an employer who fired an illegal alien who showed him or her that DP card. But I’m sure they’d take legal action against an employer who didn’t fire an illegal alien who showed off that DP card.
Just another reason not to do business in Kali. Like you needed that looney bin in Sacramento to give you any more.
Steve57 (6f26ff) — 9/13/2013 @ 9:24 amthis is almost as smart as bumping the minimum wage up to $10/hour…
Failifornia leads the way into our glorious green future!
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 9/13/2013 @ 9:31 amNow that this law has passed, I am sure that California law enforcement will be directed to detain anyone who is caught driving without a license and hold them for ICE if they are unable to prove legal residency. I mean, no way they continue with the catch-and-release policy for those scofflaws, right? Right? Right?
JVW (23867e) — 9/13/2013 @ 9:37 am#13, SPQR, it was a joke back in the late ’60s but along the major highways out of California there were handmade signs at the State boundary markers which read: Leaving California, Resume Normal Behavior
ropelight (e98634) — 9/13/2013 @ 10:12 amThey’re not illegal immigrants .. they are immigrants of “illegal entry” (a UN term so it must be PC)
Neo (d1c681) — 9/13/2013 @ 10:29 amWhat about the bill that allows Illegals to practice law in CA?????
PCD (7a7072) — 9/13/2013 @ 11:44 amRequire citizenship tests before they move out of the state?
“Complete this sentence: ‘You ___ entitled to other people’s money.’
a) are
Rob Crawford (e6f27f) — 9/13/2013 @ 12:14 pmb) are not”
Via NRO; confirmed!
The Kali legislature has just passed a law requiring employers to knowingly hire illegal aliens and become accomplices in committing document fraud.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358460/calif-grant-illegal-immigrants-drivers-licenses-alec-torres
So the employee (you can’t ask to see these documents until after you hire them) gives you a Kali driver’s license to establish identity, and a social security card to establish authorization to work. The driver’s license says he’s an illegal alien.
Here are the Federal penalties for the employer for hiring the individual as Kali law requires.
Any large employer will undoubtedly be subject to criminal penalties if they follow Kali law. Sheer genius. Talk about being “business friendly.” Recently Kali just demanded years of back taxes plus interest from businesses for taxes they never owed. Because Kali offered tax breaks if businesses would move there, but a court ruled those breaks illegal.
Now they just made it a federal crime to run a business in that state.
Steve57 (6f26ff) — 9/13/2013 @ 12:25 pmThe document fraud part comes in with the SS card. The employer now knows it’s a fake. That’s a federal felony, on top of those other fines and criminal penalties. But if looks genuine he’s gotta take it because otherwise according to Kali law he’s discriminating on the basis of the DP card.
Steve57 (6f26ff) — 9/13/2013 @ 12:27 pmIf you have willingly and freely broken the law to enter the country, why would you feel compelled to now get a drivers license and purchase insurance to be a “legal” driver? There is almost no consequence now for being in the country illegally *and* driving without a valid license or insurance. (See: Chief Beck).
Speaking of absurdities:
The unmitigated gall of the pro-illegal immigrant groups to protest a special designation on the license of the illegal driver because it may put a stigma on them speaks volumes about the lack of understanding that by breaking the law and entering illegally in the first place is *the* stigma that begets all other stigmas.
(Interesting to note that handicapped licenses have special designations. Do those people feel stigmatized or maginalized?)
http://www.bnd.com/2013/09/12/2795093/immigrant-drivers-license-bill.html
Dana (6178d5) — 9/13/2013 @ 12:39 pmApparently there should be no limits on illegal immigrants:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/13/us-usa-immigrants-california-idUSBRE98C04420130913?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22
Dana (6178d5) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:17 pmI left that loony state none too soon.
SPQR (768505) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:19 pmGood for you, SPQR.
I wonder if there will be a requirement for those illegal immigrant lawyers to fully disclose their immigrant status to their potential clients?
Dana (6178d5) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:21 pmI’ve been worried about you, SPQR. I know your state is having terrible flooding problems. I hope you aren’t.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:21 pmDRJ, thank you for your concern. We are dry and snug. Tried to get to the office yesterday, and was blocked by flooded streets. Might try to get to the office today to check mail, but I’m waiting for a bit more of the sunshine we are getting today to dry out the route.
One friend may have lost a vacation home in Big Elk Meadows near Estes Park, but we don’t know as it is inaccessible currently. Some other friends have only minor seepage in basements. But a few of our friends have not returned calls yet.
SPQR (768505) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:24 pmI’m glad to hear you’re ok, SPQR.
Dustin (891aab) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:27 pmI didn’t realize you were in CO, SPQR. What’s the estimation for how long the flooding will continue? Stay safe.
Dana (6178d5) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:28 pmDana,
California is a beautiful state with many fine people but, from the outside, it seems like a lost cause. I can’t see any way it will change its political or financial direction. Even the Instapundit’s recurrent meme that “What can’t go on forever, won’t” doesn’t reassure me, because I know states like California will spend and spend, and then find political cover to continue spending.
Please tell me why I’m being unfair because, frankly, it scares me just to live in the same country as states like California. I have no doubt that California will try to make the rest of us pay for its decisions, and I’m afraid it may succeed.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:32 pmThat is good news, SPQR. Very good news.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:33 pmDustin, oh, no worries. Biggest impact on me was that my favorite coffee shop was inaccessible this morning. The people most affected are in counties well to the NNW of Denver. And Estes Park is almost completely inaccessible and without electricity or phone links last I heard. An acquaintance that was hiking in Rocky Mountain N.P. had to drive out over the continental divide to return home today. A normal 1 1/2 hour drive extended to nearly six hours.
Dana, I don’t think anyone really knows. The weather service is hedging its bets and saying that rain will continue although its hard to say how much.
Its been broken clouds for hours on the east side of Denver metro area where I am. But the Flood Warning and Flash Flood Watches don’t expire until tomorrow morning.
SPQR (768505) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:35 pmSMH
NEVER FORGET
Dustin (891aab) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:43 pmIt’s hard to describe the positives that make it worth living here, DRJ, because that requires Herculean efforts to simultaneously ignore the negatives.
There is nothing like the weather here, which is usually sunny and delicious.
There is nothing like living by the Pacific Ocean. The coastline here is spectacular, especially the farther north one goes.
We recently moved to a cabin in the woods and it’s amazing to see the vast miles of woodlands and wildlife and lakes, unimpeded and just as it was a hundred years ago.
With that, one becomes so far removed from the psychosis that is Californian pols and their demented decisions and machinations. I suppose we talk ourselves into that. One can effect change at the local level, but the state level seems impossible to crack. It’s been that way for a long time, so people give up, move away, or live in a “smaller” world focusing on what is near and reachable and even changeable.
I also think that California gets a bad rap because of two major cities with very, very deep pockets: San Francisco and Los Angeles (West Side). There are enormous parts of the state – more even – that are libertarian and conservative that loath how things are. It’s just that our voting numbers are smaller. Also, we have a gigantic number of illegal immigrants here that we support/subsidize in one way or the other and they typically vote those in who will give them more services.
My thought at this point in time is that the state will have to fully go to heck in a hand basket before the liberal elites even question that perhaps they have been doing something wrong.
Dana (6178d5) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:44 pmWell, Dustin, I wasn’t looking for sympathy 😉
Just putting things in perspective compared to those who are having a very bad week out here.
SPQR (768505) — 9/13/2013 @ 1:55 pmThat makes sense, Dana. I wish the best to those of you who see what’s happening.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/13/2013 @ 2:20 pmA world without coffee is a world without hope!
No, seriously, glad you’re OK and sorry CO is having these problems.
Dustin (891aab) — 9/13/2013 @ 2:26 pmDidn’t Eric Holder tell us that States do not have the authority to preempt Federal law – something hidden in the penumbra or emanation from the Supremacy Clause?
askeptic (b8ab92) — 9/13/2013 @ 2:59 pmAny large employer will undoubtedly be subject to criminal penalties if they follow Kali law. Sheer genius. Talk about being “business friendly.” Recently Kali just demanded years of back taxes plus interest from businesses for taxes they never owed. Because Kali offered tax breaks if businesses would move there, but a court ruled those breaks illegal.
So you follow the federal law and if the state arrests you there is a bona fide civil rights case against the state.
But that portion of the law will also be immediately challenged in federal court as being in conflict, of course.
As far as having a special symbol on the license being discriminatory, the simple solution is to put residency status on the front of the license along with height and weight.
It could read: US CITIZEN, PERMANENT RESIDENT, VISA (exp ___), or OTHER. There, that’s fair to everyone.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 9/13/2013 @ 3:02 pmLet’s face it: we’ve now arrived exactly where we all knew we were heading. There is no longer in the state of California any meaningful delineation between legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, and there is soon to be no delineation between non-citizens and citizens. This is the why the left always wins in the end. They understand how to get 50% of what they want this time around and come back later to get the other 50%. From the moment that Prop. 187 was struck down in court, it was only a matter of time until this became the reality.
I promise you that all immigrants — now that there no difference between legal and illegal — will be eligible for Obamacare subsidizes within the next three years. Marco Rubio will be left stunned by the fact that when he offered an inch, liberals took the whole yard.
JVW (23867e) — 9/13/2013 @ 3:11 pmYes, all part of the “business friendly” atmosphere of Kali. You get to file an expensive lawsuit to get the state to back off and let you comply with federal law.
It seems to me the DoJ might file a lawsuit against Kali, given they’ve filed lawsuits against states such as Arizona by claiming it preempted federal law.
But then since this Kali law has to do with letting illegals stay as opposed to AZ’s law which was aimed at deporting them, I won’t hold my breath. In this case, the DoJ will be entirely fine with a state preempting federal law by making the IRCA illegal in Kali.
No, it’ll just be part of the cost of doing business in Kali. If anyone is insane enough to do business in Kali.
Steve57 (6f26ff) — 9/13/2013 @ 6:05 pmI suspect that when the usual suspects sue in federal court to block the special markings, that the California AG Kamala “Comrade” Harris will chose not to defend. And, as we all know, that means no one can defend it.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:13 pmI just had my Cal driver’s license renewed, and when I received it in the mail, I took one look and wondered when it was that I got the Māori facial tattoos.
Colonel Haiku (a54afe) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:24 pm“We recently moved to a cabin in the woods…”
I feel a screenplay comin’ on…
Colonel Haiku (a54afe) — 9/13/2013 @ 7:26 pmPure comedy gold.
Jerry Brown wants illegal immigrants in California to be able to get to work “legally”, and he says there are millions of them here.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (6f5f3a) — 9/13/2013 @ 11:05 pmOK so let’s have them register for selective service at the same time.
Amphipolis (e01538) — 9/14/2013 @ 6:45 amWait till all the low-info Dem voters lose their jobs to a newly minted legal worker!
HAHAHAHAHA.
Actually it’s sad.
Patricia (be0117) — 9/14/2013 @ 2:02 pm48. Comment by Patricia (be0117) — 9/14/2013 @ 2:02 pm
Wait till all the low-info Dem voters lose their jobs to a newly minted legal worker!
Of course none of that will happen, and in fact wages (adjusted for inflation) for Americans (excluding newly legal workers) will go up slightly (because the higher the population, the higher the average wage)
Sammy Finkelman (48f9c6) — 9/14/2013 @ 7:04 pmThis actually won’t go into effect until January 2015 because they’ll be busy writing regulations until then.
Sammy Finkelman (48f9c6) — 9/14/2013 @ 7:05 pmOn another thread: Karl Rove presuming that Latinos don’t support Republicans because of conservatives’ approach to the topic of illegal immigration
I think that’s really correct and not wrong.
Not that maybe there might not be more votes cast for Democrats than Republicans anyway, but not at these levels – the change in California after 1987 was unmistakeable.
What’s peculiar is people insisting that that does not affect votes.
It not only affects votes of Hispanics, it also affects votes of young people in general, because a lot of people, more and more every year, go to school with illegal immigrants, who are assimiliating in some respects.
(that’s why the Deeam Act, which attempts to carve out young people)
I believe comprehensive immigration is dead, but amnesty is far from dead. It will now pass, in one Congress or another, without any pretence at immigration control.
Adding border control etc. just doesn’t get it any more votes. Border control in the future is regarded as not credible, border control in the past is just swallowed, and nothing given in return, so it can’t be part of a deal.
Sammy Finkelman (e0f80a) — 9/16/2013 @ 8:03 amno
Yoda (ee1de0) — 9/18/2013 @ 8:24 pm