Undocumented workers won’t be undocumented much longer if Colorado Democrats at the State Capitol get their way. After a session already chock-a-block full of controversial liberal measures, State Senator Jesse Ulibarri (D-Ballpoint Pens) has decided to push a bill granting Colorado driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.
Reports the Associated Press:
DENVER—Illegal immigrants would be eligible to get Colorado driver’s licenses under a bill Democrats plan to introduce next week.
…Colorado Democratic Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, the sponsor of the bill, says illegal immigrants are already on the roads and it would be better to have them licensed and insured. The bill will be unveiled Monday.
Ulibarri apparently wasn’t paying attention when a group tried to get this measure on the ballot last year and got barely a quarter of the number of signatures needed to succeed.
Nor, apparently, was he paying attention to the 9/11 Commission counsel who has warned about the threat to public safety from such an action. As The Colorado Observer reported in January:
But some, like 9/11 Commission counsel Janice Kephart, have suggested that allowing illegal aliens to obtain state-issued identification documents could pose threats to general public more dire than unregistered cars and uninsured drivers.
“One of the key rules in terrorist travel is to get a government-issued ID,” Kephart said in September. “All four 9/11 pilots had Florida driver’s licenses, including, of course, the operational leader and first World Trade Center pilot, Mohamed Atta.”
“New Mexico, for example, is one of a handful of states that does not require proof of U.S. citizenship to obtain a driver’s license, so there is a tremendous amount of fake ID production in New Mexico,” Kephart added. “Counterfeiters even ship illegal aliens to New Mexico to acquire driver’s licenses.”
Colorado may have been happy to become the next Emerald Triangle of pot growing, but we highly doubt Coloradans would be quite as happy to become the capital of counterfeit IDs.
This is a classic case of overreach and why anyone who tells you Democrats have attained a permanent majority in Colorado is dead wrong.
Colorado may have trended leftwards in recent elections, but the electorate isn’t quite on par with California, even if our left-wing legislature governs that way.
Bills like this are exactly the type of overreach that helps swing the pendulum back the other way in politics.
The illegal that hit my daughter two years ago had no license or insurance. He was driving his boss' truck. He appeared in court in Aurora with an expired insurance document, not in his name, and all charges were dropped. Clearly, being illegal is a get out of jail free card in Colorado.
if motor voter registration is in force, the reasoning becomes obvious! more voters!
The fear-mongering in this articlr is pretty obvious; linking the possibility that undocumented immigrants may get DLs with anxiety over fake government issued IDs by a 9/11 Commission attorney — please don't insult my intelligence. Here are two good reasons to make immigrants eligible for DLs: public safety is promoted by licensing them to drive roperly, and second you'lll get them onto an actual government database authentically, so if they do commit a crime here it'lll be easier for the police to find them. Yes, I know that they've already committed a crime by coming here illegally, but most just want the same oportunities that brought my forefathers to America during the colonial era. Unless you're Native American, you're the decesdent of immigrants too!
This is nonsense. We need federal congress to address illegals, but hopefully they will not be so stupid as to grant all of them amnesty. Any that chose to come here should be sent back. Simple as that.
However, if any of my congress critter votes to approve total amnesty, then I will be voting against them as well as giving to the opposition.
Hey Shawn, people are just going to rob banks anyway. Why don't we just give them the money. And if you think having a license is going to lead to higher compliance with insurance, you must be enjoying the new Colorado state plant.
Insurance is not required to get a license…duh! You only need insurance to register your car but you can get a license even if you don't have a car or insurance. What you do need in most states is a birth certificate.
Are you high? Do you really think that someone that is already a criminal by coming to this country illegally is going to buy insurance just because they have a drivers license issued by the state? There are plenty of US born legal citizens that dont have a license and insurance that drive the roads too.
It does make sense if you think about it. Undocumented residents are going to drive. If they're unlicensed and they cause an accident, there's no insurance to pay for anything. But, since they want to fly under the radar and not attract attention, if they have a license they can buy insurance which is good for everyone.
How stupid is this guy? State documentation for illegal aliens….yea that makes sense.