A lack of Responsibility

Following five hours of debate Wednesday evening the New Mexico state senate approved a bill to require fingerprinting, two documents to prove residency and license renewals every two years for those in the state illegally. Because there is not enough support in the state senate for an initiative that is supported by 80% of New Mexicans it seems likely that those in this state illegally will continue to be granted drivers licenses. Before considering the merits of either side, this issue must be framed within a simple truth. This discussion involves this state providing a benefit to people here illegally, as in, they have broken a law. For all the rhetoric one way or another we are talking about the allotment of a state benefit to non-citizen law breakers. For those who disagree with the law concerning who is and is not illegal, that is peripheral and irrelevant. The law is and state governments simply are not allowed to circumvent it at their convenience.

The two primary arguments presented in support of conferring driver’s licenses to those here illegally are first that because obtaining a drivers license requires insurance our roads will be safer because of more insured drivers and second that we are all generally safer from criminals who take advantage of this law because they are now in the license database and can be tracked.

Is there any data that proves that there are fewer uninsured drivers on New Mexico roads? A NMSU study looked at numbers provided by the New Mexico MVD and the Insurance Research Council (IRC, a consortium of industry) showing wildly different results. While both show similar numbers starting in 2002, the IRC number remains close to an average of 29% while MVD data steadily declines to 10% in 2008. MVD’s data is related to registered vehicles with no insurance while the IRC’s is related to car accident data. Basically the study was inconclusive, as stated it its executive summary.

The second point is confusing. Why would the government need to use the driver’s license database to track criminals? Is it possible to obtain a license as a criminal? And if these criminals have obtained licenses prior to becoming actual criminals how exactly is it helpful to know that they were able to obtain legal documents in New Mexico? And, as a democrat initiative is it even believable that democrat lawmakers would support using the MVD database for this ill-defined purpose?

The biggest proponent of the second argument is democrat state senator Eric Griego of Albuquerque who is best known for being a perpetual failed candidate for mayor in Albuquerque and for calling every listener of 770KKOB AM news radio and every supporter of ending the practice of giving driver’s licenses to those here illegally racist. This basically means that Griego is a pandering politician without an actual argument, instead retreating to caricaturing those who disagree with his nonsense position with cries of ray-cesss.

New Mexico’s driver’s licenses are in violation of the federal REAL ID Act and the only reason lawful residents of our state can travel to and through the rest of the United States is because a do-nothing U.S. Congress continues to grant postponements to the law’s implementation. Criminals from other countries are making New Mexico their first stop to take advantage of well meaning idiocy to travel freely to commit crimes all over the United States. There is no justifiable reason to continue this practice and it all starts with one simple word: illegal. New Mexico should not be providing a state form of identification to those who are not here legally.