20% of fatal accidents are caused by illegals. There must be much more of them then previously believed. Bring the troops home from Iraq and put them on the border with Mexico.

Joe -

Read the post again. 20% of accidents involve unlicensed drivers. Not all of them are "illegals" (undocumented, wetbacks, whatever your favorite slur is), although surely some fraction of them are.

I'm all for bringing the troops home from Iraq, but putting the military in charge of immigration control would be another step towards the police state that the neocons seem to be pushing for,

Just because undocumented/illegal aliens can get licenses doesn't mean that they will.

And if they do, it doesn't mean that they will get insurance. Especially where insurance companies report to DMVs regarding insurance coverage, there's less incentive for those without licenses to get licensed because then they'd have to purchase insurance in order to retain their licenses.

However, the major advantage of a driver's license it that it will open up vast areas of legitimacy for illegal aliens. No longer would they be afraid of police who asked for their license. They will be able to apply for other things or even vote (in California it is illegal to be asked for photo identification if you want to vote - so it makes you wonder how many non-citizens vote illegally).

Granting a license also allows criminals (who may be citizens) to pretend to be illegals without documentation so that they can obtain licenses under aliases of their choice. With that, they can do a lot of things, like pass forged checks.

DEPORTATION is the answer for the law breakers that take our union construction jobs. Just say no to scabs.

Invade Mexico and make it the 51st state. Heck, go all the way to Panama, and make it all a state. It's easier to guard a much smaller area.

Oklahoma's immigration law passed and went into effect earlier this month. The immigrants are PISSED. The churches are protecting them. The Oklahoma County Sherrif says he has no place to put them.
What a mess.

The real issue is still our Corpocracy trying its best to perfuse yet another labor market(trucking/transportation)with cheap, compliant, and right now, illegal foreign workers. The Departmant of Transportation currently and I might add stringently regulates the licenses of all Class A, B & C licenses, and for good reason. Generally speaking, persons who are driving illegally, do so with caution (even DWI'ers) to avert jail or prison. This is an overt assault on middle calss wages again! I am sick of hearing that we will not deport 12 million illegals. I am not anti-immigration. If you are here illegally and workinging illegally, then go back tom your country of origin, get in line and apply for legal residency with previous proof of employment, with a letter from your employer as to why your skill needs to be imported.

The public outcry against licensing of illegal immigrant goes to prove that the gullibility of the American public cannot be overestimated. The public just doesn't know what is in their best interest. They have to pick up the tab for the uninsured motorists. Most likely illegal drivers would get auto insurance if they had were licensed. If for no other reason that it would be a status symbol amongst their peers to do so.Just why the public want to pick up the tab for the uninsured and then to add to the numbers of uninsured which will in turn increase their insurance premiums more so just proves the gullibility of the public cannot be overestimated.

Bleeding hearts want the "illegals" to have all of the benefits of legal immigrants and citizens.

Glad to see the responses to this crap.

a wll wont work, bull it worked in china, it worked in germany, can't deport 11,000,000 people Bull. hitler was able to murder 6,000,000 people, and we can't give 11,000,000 a bus ride home? how did we become the greatest country in the world , with out all these IILEAGLES,WITH OUT CHINA , HOW/??????????

aWALL wont work, bull it worked in china, it worked in germany, can't deport 11,000,000 people Bull. hitler was able to murder 6,000,000 people, and we can't give 11,000,000 a bus ride home? how did we become the greatest country in the world , with out all these ILEAGLES,WITH OUT CHINA , HOW/??????????

a) It stands to reason that if you don't HAVE a license, you are more willing to do stupid things like speed or drive while drunk or both because it CAN'T BE REVOKED.

Stupid reasoning: they do not care either way. legal Americans with licenses drive on revoked licenses all the time..This would make no difference

b) So call me crazy, but given that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, that many of them perform jobs that require driving cars, or god help us, trucks, don't we want them to have them to have been a least briefed on the rules of the road? Especially since increasingly those immigrants are coming from the poorest parts of Central and South America (and Africa and China and so forth and so on) where, if there are any rules, they are, shall we say, elastic?

Flawed reason: They will do it no matter what...license or not..you gotta do better than that

jr "you gotta do better than that", yes, the answer is DEPORTATION.

~snicker~ who are YOU foolin'? If they don't have a right to be here in the first place, they are a CRIMINAL. Which part of 'criminal' don't you understand??? When the American people are expected to obey the law and foreigners who don't even belong in this county AREN'T; there somthing ROTTEN in Denmark.

Nancy, be glad we live in America. Your pious attitude alone would be criminal if I were king. There are lots of things that even born in America citizens do every day that are criminal even though they have no effect on society and do no harm. I believe in questioning law and I am happy that in this country laws can change. Like America? Maybe immigrants do, too. By the way, did the CRIMINALITY of illegal immigrants really bother you two or three years ago before the politicians and media decided it would be our next interior distraction? Notice how while you've been foaming at the mouth about immigrants, yur economy has continued to decine and your national defences are in shambles. Keep ranting while they dismantle your Constitution.

The economy has been trashed, along with middle class savings, home ownership ect. We don't NEED to deport them. No employment due to a cooling economy and don't give them services and they'll go home. I live in a very small town, and not a wealthy town with a big tax base. I am tired of paying for Mexican children to receive an education. Tired of trying to bring them up to speed and operating the schools on Saturday so they can catch up. And I'm doubly tired of the press constantly starting any story with "Well, first, we can't get rid of them."
Yes we can. Don't feed educate, medicate or employ them and they will go home. Fine employers with a fine worthy of the name, and the big corporations will stop stuffing them down our throats. They are hurting me and most other middle class people because we're making up the difference in the illegals'low wages by being taxed for the things the illegals don't get from Bechtal or the meat packing plant, or the construction job.Quit supporting them and they will go home and maybe somebody in Mexico will do something about Mexico beside sending them to us.

K, they are people. Don't feed, care for, educate or help them and we become...the county they left. Maybe effective, but if we're South America to 'spite' them, what do we lose in terms of our American identity?

Come on K, you really willing to give up your 99 cent cheeseburger for a 7.95 made in AMERICA BURGER..or your pressed suit, much less your made bed at the West Bestern:) Oh and hmmm didn't someone else actually settle this land long time b4 people with the name Nancy ever hobbled about..Think about people in any other country in the world if you travel there you can rent a car and drive if you dare..Here we treat poeple like animals thinking that WALLS or money and a nice house and immigration lawyer makes you more worthy. Anyhoooo, I applaud NY as if for no other reason to throw a juggernaut in the unlAWFUL fed ID act the cronies are cooking up to dismantle the last thing left they havent scavenged in the name of jesus or free oil or coal, our assess!!

Illegals are like somebody who comes unto my property and are squatters. They rob my water and steal my melons. This is a crime. They must be deported. I know that the wicked capitalists(not all capitalists are wicked) and their fellow travelers who posted here, are responsible for the situation. It is the wicked capitalist system of exploitation of the working class that is responsible for the illegals being here. Workers of the world unite, you only have to lose the chains that bind you.

"But what about a step toward documentation? Accountability? Traceability?"

And let's catch those plotting violently to overthrow the government by asking them if they are on a form they have to fill out.

"Who do you think is more likely to seek such a license? Hard-working, law abiding people? Or criminals and lazeabouts?"

They're equally likely, a driver's license being almost necessary in today's world, even for criminals and lazeabouts, and for those here legally, not at all difficult to get.

"In New York state, as in most others, having a license means you are required to have insurance."

No, driving a car on public streets is what means you're required to have insurance. Insurance goes along with registration of a car, not with the possession of a driver's license.

Your underlying position is, the immediate and expedient is worth more than the more diffuse good of making a policy and sticking to it, cruel though it might sometimes be. In support of this weighing, this interpretation, you make no real argument.