Sanity Prevails as Massachusetts Sidelines Illegal Alien Driver’s License Bill



Driver's LicenseRecently, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Transportation voted to send House Bill (H.B. 3285) to study, effectively killing consideration of the legislation this session. H.B. 3285 would have removed the provision in Massachusetts law that requires an applicant to provide a Social Security Number for proof of identity in order to receive a driver’s license or learner’s permit. The bill would have also prohibited the registrar of the Department of Motor Vehicles from denying a driver’s license or learner’s permit to any person who fails to provide evidence of immigration status. The practical effect and purpose of this bill was to make illegal aliens eligible for Massachusetts’ driver’s license or learner’s permit.

H.B. 3285 is bad public policy and should be opposed. It is not fair to constituents to continue to increase their taxes, cut their benefits and mortgage against their children’s futures while expanding benefits and privileges for illegal aliens. Providing driving privileges to illegal aliens will only encourage illegal aliens to remain in the state and continue to work in the underground economy for lower wages – severely undercutting American workers and yielding little to no tax revenue for the state. States must not invite illegal immigration to their state and place the fiscal burden of providing education, health care and other services to illegal aliens on the backs of taxpayers.

H.B. 3285 also poses national security risks. Unlike legal immigrants, illegal aliens are not subject to stringent background checks or face-to-face interviews to determine the existence of any national security threat that they might pose. The September 11, 2001 terrorists carried among them over 30 state driver’s licenses and identification cards. These documents allowed them to obtain housing, transportation and other accommodations without raising suspicion while they planned and executed their deadly conspiracy.

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Content written by Federation for American Immigration Reform staff.

17 Comments

  1. avatar

    Ron, What planet are you living on? Every heard of George W. Bush? John McAmnesty? Lindsey Graham? To name but three REPUBLICAN who fully support, encourage, and subsidize illegal immigration.

    Illegal immigration is a symptom of our broken LEGAL immigration system.

    • avatar

      nother individual who believes all the bullcrap that is being bandied about by the Democrats.. It is a known fact thatn the Demorats want these illegals to become citizens sso they will vote for the idiots already in or want to be in as Democrats. That’s a tricky little name you mention in your reply,John McAmnesty.How quaint. Who the hell is he if there is a he. Things are getting bad for the Dumborats every day. Things have gotten so bad that now even the Kenyans are saying Obama was born in Hawaii.

  2. avatar

    Just another way to attempt to get more people,legal or otherwise,to vote for Democrats in all the elections especially the Nov 14 elections. We owe these illegal immigrants NOTHING,they are not citizens and are NOT entitled to anything from us with one exception. And that is the right to be deported to wherever the hell they came from.

  3. avatar
    john fredette on

    John Winthrop I have an idea why don’t you go back 09/11/01; and check. What Jesse is saying is true.Also I live in Los Angeles California it’s illegal aliens heaven here. Starting 01/01/2015: California is giving illegal aliens drivers licenses. It’s going to cost California taxpayers 154 million dollars to set special license centers just for them . California’s budget for 2014 is 100.6 billion dollars 25.8 billion is going for illegals health care and cost of education and living. People like you and Emperor Obama and the left are killing this country.

  4. avatar
    John Winthrop on

    Jesse no illegal has been a terrorist but our own and legal people…..I see no Mexican begging for money on the City streets but whites and African Americans so far……..SO from your remarks having the illegals in the System is the best solution…………..also!!…BY THE WAY…..there should be put in place FBI backgrounds automatically for all those visa/permits/…etc..etc who get DLs to avoid what happened in 9/11…….SO…all this is good so far…….DLs r fine……

    • avatar

      Its Not Just Your Observation

      I didn’t see hardly beggars of the street until the labor shortage recently, the last 5-10 years especially. I see plenty of IA types begging for jobs at Home Depot and other IA pickup points though….hardly any whites there. Who took whose job?

      • avatar
        arnlof sweigeir ft on

        Beggars have been on the city streets…for 20/ years+….your outlook is very limited…
        ndeed looking for jobs…..not begging for .money…..!!!!!

    • avatar

      John,

      Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my article. I appreciate the feedback and love a good debate. In regards to your comments though you are incorrect. Sadly, there is a movement in some states to ease up on proof-of-identity requirements for driver’s license applicants. Proponents admit that the reason is to make it easier for illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses, which, they claim, will make the roads safer.But in every state, the driver’s license (and its counterpart, the state ID card) is the primary document used to establish identity and proof of legal residence. Making driver’s licenses accessible to illegal aliens gives them the means to pass themselves off as legal residents of the United States. All of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attack had one or more state driver’s licenses, which masked the illegality of their presence in the U.S. Furthermore, as a result of laxity in licensing they were able to use these licenses when renting housing, opening bank accounts, and boarding planes. At the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, DHS implemented REAL ID in 2005, which set minimum standards for security, authentication, and issuance of state driver’s licenses. Originally intended to be implemented in all 50 states by May 2008, many states have requested extensions for compliance or refused to comply at all. I can only say that granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens is a terrible idea. It makes them invisible to enforcement authorities by giving them the one document they most need to secure employment, transact business and register to vote.

      • avatar
        John Winthrop on

        Jesse the pleasure is mine. A great article., it is always appreciated to be kept informed. Obviously this is a complex issue and you are correct on the facts. The point I was making was, given the fact we actually have nothing about these people, at least a picture in addition to other documents and the fees associated with making the financial infrastructure stronger is a better situation in case of the worst case scenario……..they can be traced.

        So far, it appears this will not be handled to 2016+ which it will only become a worse chaos…..so to the lack of any info and income the States might get, at least this is one more piece that can be put together until hopefully all is fixed.

        I have a friend in Montauk NY that almost was killed by an illegal Colombian driving a truck…

        Now regarding the illegality of the 9/11 hijackers, that was not related to illegals or status. They came here legally so that is another story as to how our Intelligence/infra-structure is to be implemented or reformed to be able to screen these people when they arrive. Like the last NSA scandal regarding privacy and freedom but that is another subject.

        Now you do have a point regarding the internal infra-structure of our system and how it should be reformed to account for all these loopholes. Last, everybody seems to blame the illegals when this is all old news and nobody ever cared in the past. However, now it is a hot issue, and The People is responsible for this as well as there are good and bad illegals.

        The other day I saw a Mexican Illegal pay for a troop’s meal and basically thank him for the fact he is grateful for his service and thankful he is able to provide for his family. He wished him well and a safe return to the kid. The troop’s family went and thanked the Mexican Illegal. At the end as the Mexican Illegal left the place I saw the soldier saluting him as he left the place, and tears in the Mexican illegals’ face.

        I approached him and asked him if he is ok, and he told me he had lost his son in the service last year. I asked him if he had his papers and said no. But that he believed in the US and that Americans were the nicest people he ever met in the last 30 years living in the US and that if he could he would fight for this country. Last, he mentioned he did not understand why people were so angry at Mexicans when they were always happy to see them to come and work and then go back. He said after the Law in 1997 or so he was unable to go back.

        Let’s see how all this unfolds……….Once this is fixed I do agree with what you said regarding the details on how to get a DL. Eventually everything will be linked but it appears the word Freedom will be in the way before this happens…….

    • avatar

      sir where i live in ga there are plenty of illegal aliens gang members that are terrorizing people here and the police are failing bad to stop them today on the news the news woman said it was illegal to give illegal aliens any kind of federal help then why are they getting it…..i know if my taxes go up to pay for them i won`t pay the extra tax ..

      • avatar
        John Winthrop on

        Mike like I said, there are good and bad people………..you should get your community involved and talk to your representative to come up with legislation to stop this.

  5. avatar
    John Winthrop on

    I ma not sure if all this is true…………they still have to show their passport or embassy card where this could be a great source for a background check……….at least this way they r in the system……………the way it is now none of them r and it is a mess………………………a positive thing to happen…I agree with it.

    • avatar

      The problem is they DONT have a passport or embassy card to show, etc. They cant even tell who or where a lot of these ppl come from. It is a terrible idea. It basically says, “its ok. You dont have to get citizenship the way everyone else does. Here, lets hand everything you need over (even though you are here illegally). They are breaking the law & essentially being rewarded for doing it. Here is free housing. education, healthcare, etc etc etc. Sure, work under the table & dont pay any taxes & then send the $ back to the country you came from. Its a joke.

      • avatar
        arnlof sweigeir ft on

        Correction not all illegals are crminals….u need to learn.more about why we have illegals and why it is the right thing to legalize them

      • avatar
        John Winthrop on

        Dee if some illegals are abusing the System that means millions or Americans have been already doing it for a longer time…….stop our own we will stop everybody else.

    • avatar

      John, Why do you want illegals ‘in the system’…? They have knowingly broken our laws. Let’s get the 5 million people from all over the world who legally have applied to enter the US ‘in the system’.

      • avatar
        arnlof sweigeir ft on

        Tom if read again Johns feedback you will realize why……background check… Very simple