Cox decision inflames debate on driver’s licenses

Analysis:

This story is based on reaction to a recent decision by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to make it illegal for those undocumented to obtain a drivers license. According to the story, Cox was asked by Rep. Rick Jones to make this legal decision since the effort to have the state legislature make the change has gone nowhere. According to Jones’ website, he was alerted to this issue when “The Carpenters Union came to Jones making him aware that illegal aliens were stealing good jobs from Michigan residents.” The story provides no context for Jones’ decision to act on this issue.

The article has two sources in favor of the decision and two against. Andres Abreu, editor of a Spanish language newspaper in Grand Rapids and John Musik with the Michigan Organizing Project both expressed their opposition to Cox’s decision. Those in favor of the decision were a spokesperson for Michigan Secretary of State Terri Land and State Rep. Dave Agema. Both of these sources link this decision to 9/11 fears and Secretary of State Land’s spokesperson states that the decision “reflects the realities of a post-9/11 world, where security has never been more important.” The reporter does ask either of these sources for clarification on what the link is between post 9/11 security and making it illegal for undocumented residents. Rep. Agema has been at the forefront of the effort to make it harder for those undocumented to be in Michigan, but the story only mentions that he introduced “a bill last summer to prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses.” Agema has even made controversial statements such as “I don’t want illegals, whether they be Hamas, Hispanics or Jamaicans, to get driver’s licenses in this state” and “I think the people of Michigan are pretty sick of illegals taking education and health care and so forth.” The local news media has failed to challenge Rep. Agema’s position and role on this issue despite his failure to provide evidence for his claims.

Story:

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox’s decision this week to prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses will not make Michigan safer, critics of his opinion argued.

Instead, it further will limit the number of agriculture and construction workers here and increase the number of unlicensed drivers on the state’s roadways, they said.

“If you deny driver’s licenses, then we’ll have no information” about undocumented immigrants, said Andres Abreu, editor of El Vocero Hispano, a Spanish-edition newspaper in Grand Rapids. “That’s no good for security.”

At the request of state Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, Cox issued an opinion Thursday on whether Michigan — one of only eight states that still issues driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants — should continue to do so.

At least three states have outlawed the practice in recent years as a way to crack down on illegal immigrants and keep licenses out of the hands of would-be terrorists.

“Cox’s ruling is right-on,” said state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Rockford, who introduced a bill last summer to prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses. His bill has not received a hearing in the Democratic-controlled House.

“We have to make our driver’s licenses secure. Currently, they are not,” Agema said, adding the proof of residency required to get a license easily can be forged.

“This should have been done the year after 9/11, not now,” he said.

Agema also wondered if illegal immigrants have used licenses to register to vote. Only U.S. citizens have the right to vote in federal, state and local elections.

“Nobody checks for fraud. It’s kinda scary,” he said.

The opinion from Cox, a Republican, overrules a 1996 opinion from former Attorney General Frank Kelley, a Democrat. While Kelley said denial may violate the U.S. Constitution, Cox said “there can be no doubt that a rational basis exists for denying driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.”

Michigan law allows the Secretary of State to issue driver’s licenses only to residents of the state. Regarding an illegal immigrant as a permanent resident would be “inconsistent with federal law,” Cox wrote in his opinion.

Unless it is reversed by a court, Cox’s opinion is considered legally binding.

It “reflects the realities of a post-9/11 world, where security has never been more important,” said Ken Silfven, spokesperson for Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land. It also “lays a good foundation” for Land’s work to comply with the federal Real ID Act to make licenses more secure, he said.

On the other side, the opinion prompted the Michigan Organizing Project (MOP) to call on legislators to “step up and protect our state” by passing a law outlining the criteria for obtaining a driver’s license.

If an applicant can prove his identity, residency, competency behind the wheel and has proof of insurance, that should be sufficient, said MOP Executive Director John Musick.
“We see it as a disaster from several perspectives,” Musick said of the opinion. “Many businesses are very much dependent on immigrants, regardless of their legal status, being able to get to work and carry on normal commerce.”

Immigration reform is necessary, said Abreu, but making life “impossible” for the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the U.S. is not the way to do it.
“We need secure borders. That is the first step,” he said.