All American Blogger » NY Governor Drops Plan to Give Illegals Licenses

NY Governor Drops Plan to Give Illegals Licenses

Posted by Duane Lester on Nov 14th, 2007 • Clicks

It was a bad idea to start with and even though Gov. Eliot Spitzer has dropped the plan, the damage has already been done:

The governor introduced the plan with the goal of increased security, safer roads and an opportunity to bring immigrants “out of the shadows.” Opponents charged Mr. Spitzer would make it easier for would-be terrorists to get identification, and make the country less safe. Many New Yorkers agreed with them.

About 70% of New Yorkers oppose the license plan, according to a Siena College poll of 625 registered voters released Tuesday. The poll, conducted Nov. 5-8, had a sampling error margin of 3.9 percentage points.

Last month, Mr. Spitzer sought to salvage the license effort by striking a deal with the Department of Homeland Security to create three distinct types of state driver’s licenses: one “enhanced” that will be as secure as a passport; a second-tier license good for boarding airplanes; and a third marked not valid for federal purposes that would be available to illegal immigrants and others.

Debate over the issue has spilled into New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Ms. Clinton has been criticized by her Democratic and Republican rivals for her noncommittal answers on the subject. She has said she sympathizes with governors like Mr. Spitzer who are forced to confront the issue of immigration because the federal government has not enacted immigration reform.

Here’s something you might not know: there are already eight states that give licenses to illegal aliens. Those states are:

Maryland
Hawaii
New Mexico
Maine
Michigan
Oregon
Utah
Washington

I wonder why Bill Richardson didn’t have to answer any questions about the driver’s license topic. He is the governor of New Mexico and they are already doing this.

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