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California to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants

September 13, 2013

california dr license btA bill to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants residing in California passed the legislature Thursday, and is expected to be signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. [NBC LA]

Driver’s license cards issued in accordance with AB 60, which passed both the Assembly and the Senate Thursday, will indicate that they serve as identification only for the purpose of driving. The identification cards will not establish eligibility for employment, voting or public benefits.

The state estimates that the new law will allow about 2 million people in California to drive legally.

“This bill will enable millions of people to get to work safely and legally,” Brown said in a statement. “Hopefully, it will send a message to Washington that immigration reform is long past due.”

Prior to late Thursday, lawmakers had tabled the bill due to opposition from immigrant-rights groups that objected to the issuance of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants that differ in appearance from standard licenses.

But, Latino lawmakers in the Senate revived the bill during the final hours of a legislative session, and it later passed the Assembly by a 55-19 vote.

“This is a very historic night for all immigrant communities,” said Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo, who authored the bill. “We have had far too many families who have been divided, far too many workers who have been deported, for not having something so basic, so simple, as a driver’s license.

When Brown signs the bill into law, California will become the 10th state in the U.S. to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

 


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Well obviously they did it so that the undocumented workers will now go buy car insurance right? No more hit and runs.


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The sheer stupidity pouring from the mouths of our elected officials is mind boggling. They are so out of touch with reality if any of them spent a day in the life of a regular citizen, the culture shock would send them right over the border…. hey, now there’s a thought.


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that is the whole point of this excercise. who was it who said “effete intelectual snobs”? (Agnew) i always like to say “walk a mile in my shoes”. so where do we go from here?


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the prefix before the license number would say “DP” instead of “DL.” ?


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So how will somebody with no desire to read or speak English comprehend road signage?


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They won’t. The DMV handbooks and tests are printed in Spanish, thank you tax payers. Obviously, the road signs are not,,,,,, yet… Oh yeah, let’s do everything we can to make it easy for the illegal immigrants. The back country roads surrounding our famous “wine country” (ugh) are perilous, especially during harvest and crush season. The roads are not well maintained, many of them having faded or no lines at all. The migrant workers have no concept of road rules and they drive all over the road, speeding and cutting corners. Traveling down Jardine Road early one foggy morning, I was ran completely off the road because the driver of the oncoming car used the WHITE line (which was used to create a right hand turn lane into the golf course) as the center dividing line. He was on entirely on my side of the road and kept scooting over further and further until I was off the road and into the dirt. If these undocumented, illegal, unlicensed, uninsured workers, and there is no denying it, they are, are driving out to these wineries to work and they cause an accident, the winery owners and labor contractors should be held financially responsible. Make them pay. Why should those of us who are following the law always be made to pay?


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And if you can’t read, the DMV will give you the test orally.


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old joke; the harder you hit a cue ball with a pool cue the more english you get out of it. when i moved to Canada i made sure i learned French….i kept the TV on in French all the time. after a couple years i never knew what language i was speaking. this trick was taught to me by a LEGAL Mexican immigrant who told me that’s how he learned English.


take two; tghere is a road sign in North San Diego County, around San Onofre, that simply shows a man woman and child running across the freeway. i haven’t seen a deer crossing sign for years


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I know the signs you are speaking of. I was hysterical the first time I seen one as I was driving to San Diego. What wasn’t so funny were the billboard signs in Mexico printed in Spanish advertising MediCal to Mexican citizens. That was twenty years ago. I vowed never to vacation in Mexico again and I’ve not been back since.


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