Giving Drivers licenses to Illegal Imm.

[libertee]

Handing out DL's to people coming into this country-illegally -for the purpose of knowing where they are and who they are is on the minds of a couple of candidates ..dem/rep. Ask Gov. Spitzer of NYS if that's a good idea...? It didn't get off the ground and sent his approval ratings plummeting..

[depakid]

1. It's responsible public policy

from a public safety perspective, and it takes courage to stand up for that in the face of so much ignorance and xenophobia.

I'll tip my hat to Obama on that one, for sure.

[libertee]

6. I totally agree with you but that alone will defeat him!

[CanonRay]

2. I'm and Obama guy, but this is a really bad idea.

[conservdem]

14. I am with Obama too, and I agree that this could really hurt him

and may well cost him the election. IMO this will be a much bigger issue than most here realize.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

15. Politically bad. Public policy-wise good. nt

[RC]

3. Drivers licenses for people not here legally?

How about "Get out of Jail" cards for prison escapees? Makes as much sense.

Wouldn't a better deal all round be to have a program so they could work here legally? That way we could keep better track of both them and the people who hire them.

[MaineDem]

4. This is a GOP talking point. n/t

[Jack Bone]

7. yeah, when will we ever learn? Don't play the GOP...

reindeer games. I couldn't believe the recent CNN debate and the "Illegal Immigration" questions.
That issue polls at like 16% among democrats. CNN has to keep pimping the issue to keep people watching Lou Dobbs, I guess..

[totodeinhere]

8. I don't know if that is necessarily true.

Both Obama and Clinton have very detailed plans concerning how to handle the immigrant issue. And Obama is on record favoring licenses for undocumented workers, whereas Clinton is not. Therefore I think it's a legitimate issue of discussion among Democrats. It's not just a repug talking point.

[dogtag]

9. Now here's a really DUMB idea....

It seems that both parties have agreed to 'big' fines being
imposed on the undocumented who will seek to enter the
citizenship pipeline.  How can people living hand to mouth be
expected to fork over big bucks to the government? This seems
like a no brainer to me. Just imagine how many will continue
to be disenfranchised due to lack of cash.  

[totodeinhere]

10. I agree with you on that point, however...

A lot of politicians (Dems included) probably think that it would not be realistic politically to try to enact an amnesty program that does not include some sort of fine. I think that the best we can hope for is a reduction in the amount of the fine.

[dogtag]

13. I agree that fines are a sop

to the electorate, but an application to start the Homeland Security citizenship process is now around $300. How can we realistically think that a man who can barely feed his family can cough up $1,500 for a family of five to get started AND pay 'substantial' (Dems and GOP code word) fines?

Oh, I forgot, we aren't being realistic. We're just doing a pander to the voters. I can hear it now....."these people don't want to play by the rules".......blah, blah, blah. Line up the cattle cars and head for Mexico.

[libertee]

5. I have lived through the debate here in NYS this past year

....and believe me..this is a HUGE sticking point..People aren't altogether smart..remember "weapons of mass destruction" was bought by supposedly an intelligent populace...this will come back to haunt us.

[conservdem]

11. It's an awful idea IMO and it will really hurt any pol that supports it.

I hope Obama changes his position on it.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. This is a situation where there is a conflict of two policies that don't blend easily.

On one hand, the public policy behind registering drivers for licenses is to protect the public from anonymous, untrained operators who can be a menace to both drivers and pedestrians as well as themselves and their passengers. To deny a class of individuals a license would be to jeopardize society on the whole. And licenses are used (like it or not) as methods to monitor our whereabouts, our credit history, our employment, etc.

But on the other hand, by including a class of people who by virtue of their non-citizen status is giving/granting symbolically and legally the same privileges given to citizens which in turn erodes the status of being a citizen. And it elevates the non-citizen to a status that is less "illegal" and has the imprimatur of legitimacy of remaining in this country rather than transient temporary workers. They will have established themselves through drivers licenses which allows them to open bank accounts, obtain credit, etc. and of course, the next thing "nationalists" will be worried about is allowing them to assume citizenship without the ability to be at least bilingual, without knowing our system of government, or even knowing who George Washington is. The biggest elephant in the room is the fear that an incredibly large block of new voters will come on roll and how their numbers and influence will change the development of our society.

I see a collision course trying to reconcile these two public policies and I can only see that there will be a significant structural and internal change in our national identity no matter how it's resolved.