Below is an op-ed from State Representative Dave Robertson:
The State Shouldn’t be Playing “Guess Who” on the Roads
BOSTON, MA — Validation by incrementalism. Creating Americans with an asterisk. This is where many are trying to push the Commonwealth to go, as advocates for driver’s licenses for illegal aliens know full well that the deeper we go into this state bureaucracy, the less defined things will become. This is the Bay State Rabbit Hole, and to me it has no end or bottom. Anyone who is following H. 3012 & S. 2061 knows that Massachusetts’ two-tiered license system is not only a fast track to reward those who cut the proverbial line to get into our country – but it also works to create unconfirmed pseudo-citizens with a caveat, and has left me and many with explanations no better than a shrug when we ask “how will this work.”
As I wrote in a letter to the committee opposing these measures during the bills hearing, I unfortunately was a victim of identity theft despite taking serious safety precautions online with my personal information. I am not sure how my information was gleamed, but after awhile several hundred dollars in false charges hit my bill, ordered out of Arizona. After clearing it up with my credit card company I now keep careful watch on my statements as my information, available to criminals, is at risk for being co-opted by someone for potentially nefarious purposes.
Now let’s take the RMV, overwhelmed and overworked already tracking the domestic violations reported to them, and imagine that they will need to play role of international detective in validating paperwork from foreign nations. Compound this with many of the territories they would be dealing with have impartial or poorly managed record systems of their own, all in foreign languages and organized by foreign laws. It would be a bureaucratic quagmire at best, a unicorn-hunt at worst. On the other hand it is easy for organized criminals to take information, such as my own that was stolen, and apply it to fake documents that fool even the best of detectives. On a federal level the Department of Homeland Security acts as a check validating international information with an immigrant or visa-holder, directly in communication with the immigrants original country, but how Massachusetts will verify such information is accurate is a worry of mine and many. The federal government employs tens of thousands of trained workers in this skillset, what will Massachusetts do to fill this gap? Will we have our own state State department?
I also want to note that supporters of these two bills admit that these possible licensees cannot attain the new Real ID license that requires proof of citizenship. Real ID or not, however, a driver’s license is your key of entry to many legal doors. I am uncomfortable with what this ID may become, because to me and many, if you have a valid Massachusetts driver’s license that is you.
We have a system of immigration; no one will deny it needs to be updated – but State Legislators should never be in the practice of throwing out the baby with the bathwater; and this RMV end-run is exactly that. As I have called for since the beginning, the federal government needs to fix this man-made crisis by following the bipartisan commission’s recommendation. From hiring more agents to process visas for seasonal workers, alleviate legal immigration application backlogs, and overhaul security screenings their hard work lays out a plan to solve the crisis once and for all, if followed. The state’s primary focus should be welcoming and integrating those who took the very long, and very expensive, path to call themselves our neighbors the right way.
Like Wilmington Apple on Facebook. Follow Wilmington Apple on Twitter. Follow Wilmington Apple on Instagram. Subscribe to Wilmington Apple’s daily email newsletter HERE. Got a comment, question, photo, press release, or news tip? Email wilmingtonapple@gmail.com.
Wilmington Apple 