For starters, Libby Garvey, chair of the Arlington County Board claims there is an “economic benefit” to granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. “Having a car enables folks to connect to their jobs and be more stable members of our community,” she asserted. “If we don’t do that, then we are just sort of pretending that they are not really here and they are not working,” she continued. Her argument, however, is belied by the fact that federal law generally prohibits illegal aliens from working in the United States. Granting them driver’s licenses to get to and from work then only enables illegal alien law-breaking, making it easier for them to not only further violate the law, but to displace American workers.
Next, chairwoman Garvey argues that granting illegal aliens driver’s licenses will increase public safety. “And there is a whole public safety aspect to it because if you get a license, then you have to make sure you know how to drive the car, which is a good thing to operate a vehicle,” she said. Now, not many in their right mind would dispute the claim that it is a good thing to actually know how to operate a vehicle if one plans on driving, what is ridiculous though is that the same goal of public safety could be better achieved by doing the opposite. That is, keeping illegal alien drivers off of the road, rather than doling out licenses to individuals who by definition lack legal identification.
Subsequently, Garvey argues that granting illegal aliens driver’s licenses will ensure they get auto insurance. Again, this argument falls flat on its face, as there is no evidence that granting illegal aliens driver’s licenses encourages them to get insured. To the contrary, while California issued 650,000 licenses to illegal aliens in 2015, only 11,348 people (not all of them necessarily illegal aliens) bought insurance through a state-run insurance program for low-income individuals, which illegal aliens disproportionately are. Moreover, New Mexico, which has been granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens for more than a decade, reportedly has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers in the country.
Finally, and perhaps most critically, it is the state—not the county—that grants driver’s licenses to individuals in Virginia. The resolution then is just for show, playing politics with one of the biggest policy concerns currently facing our nation. To be sure, the liberal-leaning pro-illegal alien Arlington Board wants to force the Republican-controlled Virginia General Assembly to oppose its measure for its own political posturing. Garvey told reporters, “There are conservative states like Utah and Nevada that have done this,” she said. “This is not that extraordinary and I think if you actually look as I have said that there are different consequences to what you do and I think everybody is better off.”
Perhaps this is not “extraordinary” to the Arlington County government, which is also a sanctuary city, but to many Americans, granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens is astonishing and a flagrant slap in the face to the rule of law. Law-abiding citizens and legal residents should never have to grow accustomed to such policies, or be made to feel abnormal for refusing to accept the lies and false logic of the illegal alien lobby. Yes, it IS “extraordinary” to give driver’s licenses and identification to those without ID—don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise….