The Illinois Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that could allow undocumented illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses.
State Senators voter overwhelmingly in favor of Senate Bill 957, which would allow immigrants to receive a temporary visitor driver's license (TVDL) upon successful completion of driver's training. The TVDL would then allow undocumented immigrants to obtain auto insurance, but do not provide a means of lawful identification for any other purpose, according to a statement issued by State Sen. Pat McGuire (D-Joliet) on Tuesday.
Forty-one Senators voted in favor of the bill, while 14 voted no and one abstained.
“The more tested and insured drivers there are, the safer our roads will be," McGuire said. "While citizenship is a federal matter, ensuring the safety of our roadways is a state matter. There were a number of safeguards built into the bill as a result of bipartisan compromise.”
Voting yes alongside McGuire were Sens. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and Linda Holmes (D-Aurora).
The fate of the bill in Illinois House is still unclear, according to the Chicago Tribune.
What do you think? Should undocumented illegal immigrants be able to legally hold driver's licenses?
by the way there's bad peoples and good people,doesn't matter if your legal or undocumented there's. good driver and bad drivers. and there's. Smart people and ignorant people doesn't matter if your LEGAL or UNDOCUMENTED .
Legal immigrants with visas H4, L4 and others are only elegible to these TVDL. Now when you do give TVDLs to illegals, you are pretty much making sure that any right wing radical will harass legal immigrants. Immigration is badly broken and neither party wants to fix it.
You want to stay in this country then do it LEGALLY!!! I'm tired of bending the rules for the ones who think they're above the law. We have laws for a reason, follow them!!! I went into hock trying to take care of my dying wife while I saw first hand the illegals getting the same services for free. Don't tell me it doesn't happen. I was told that if we were illegals my wife would get the same treatment provided free of charge from our government. So now I have a deceased wife and monthly payments I'll make for the rest of my life while an illegal walks away " free of charge"! Charity begins at home with the ones who are here legally! They pay taxes, now there's the joke of the day. Go into the city and watch them jump into the vans for day work. When they're done they jump out and are paid with cash, it happens everyday. I just shook my head that this goes on and on.
We're not talking talking about immigrants, we're talking about illegals of all nationalities. If you come into this country you do it LEGALLY! This country has a set of laws that all citizens must follow, break the laws go to jail. We have those laws for a reason. Right now our biggest problem as a country is taxes. Most families are struggling and it's not fair or legal for the ones who are here illegally to benefit off the backs of the ones who pay out the nose. We all have families too and why should I pay for the care of someone who is not a legal citizen. If I went to their country would they have their hand outs for me, I think not! I wonder if this licensing is not a trap to catch the ones here illegally and send them back. Are we headed for the likes of Arizona, could be.
Legal immigrants not always have social security cards. Only legal immigrants allowed to work have social security cards, the others are not allowed to obtain one (this was a change implemented after 2001). I understand your point about the importance of doing things legally and agree with you on that. But we have to acknowledge that the politicians of both parties never did their work in this field and instead of keeping the law up to date they opted to cater to radicals and setup caps that are artificially small for legal immigration. Check out this link- http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5803.html You will see that for example a well educated immigrant from India, sponsored by his employee may have to wait 10 years before getting a greencard. During these 10 years the person lives under a temporary status and in places like Arizona might be confused as an illegal as most local authorities are not able to figure out the difference. My point is - there is little incentive for an uneducated immigrants to follow a process like it. So they just go on and live underground. The law needs to be fixed so it meets the reality of the marketplace and enforced from that point forward.
Your husband is lucky to have been educated in our school systems while not being a legal citizen and paying taxes for those services. I'm glad to see he did well as we have/had one of the best educations in the world at one time. I work 3 jobs to keep the roof over my families head so I know all to well what hard work is. I also work with immigrants who are here legally ( green cards) as my employer chooses not to break the law. These companies who break the laws need to be shut down, fined and thrown in jail for doing so. As far as paying taxes you need to check with the Immigration Policy Center/American Immigration Council to see who really pays taxes to this country. While your husband might be doing the right thing there are many, many more that are not but draining our services for the ones that are. I really would like to know how you live off of $100.00 plus tips a week. Do you have health care? Do you have children who go to school? Curious as how that works.
I don't necessarily believe that Lee is being a racist. I can see where he is coming from. I can't imagine moving to another country and thinking that they will change the country's signage to accommodate my language. I can't imagine moving to another country and expecting them to build a huge catholic church just because I am Catholic. I can't imagine crossing over into another country illegally and expecting to be blessed with free education, health care, food stamps, etc., all while not contributing financially towards that free stuff. I am sure you will tell us that this country was founded by immigrants. That argument can certainly hold water. However, those immigrants came her legally and abided by the rules of this country. They got physicals before entering. They filled out paper work before entering. They were financially contributing members of this society who were proud of the country they moved to. They learned the Pledge of Allegiance and recited it regularly and appreciated the words! We don't have that today. That is unacceptable and a slap in the face to our founding fathers, veterans and every single true American.
By the way, there are still immigrants to the US who do it legally. : ) Just as not every undocumented person is Mexican, another point that seems to be ignored in immigration discussions. Again - broad brush and all.
Before accusing me of knocking a whole race of people you should reread what I wrote. I said illegals and immigrants which includes a broad spectrum of nationalities. Anyone here who is not a citizen or have green card status is an illegal. Angela I wish you and your family nothing but the best. One would think that your husband would have an easier time since he's married to you but I know first hand how our system works. Those who want to do the right thing are sometimes punished for the ones who break the laws, we pay for the sins of our brothers. I would love to visit an authentic Mexican restaurant but I know of only Pepe's and I don't think that is one. If you could recommend one I'd appreciate it and so would my girls. Happy Holidays to All. May we all move forward and find peace in the new year!