California Driver's License Bill Hurts National Security
During the same week that we remembered the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the California Legislature passed two bills that increase our national security risks. After passing Assembly Bill 4, which prohibits state & local law enforcement from working with ICE when illegal aliens are arrested for crimes, they moved onto making it it legal to give an illegal alien a driver’s license with AB 60!
AB 60 is now on its way to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk for his signature. If you are in California, please call Governor Jerry Brown NOW at 916-445-2841 and tell him to veto this bill.
Unlike legal immigrants, illegal aliens are not subject to any background checks or face-to-face interviews to determine the existence of any national security threat that they might pose. Remember, the 19 terrorists who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks held more than 30 state driver’s licenses and ID cards among them.
The threat of a terrorist attack coming from someone who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexican boarder remains very real. Earlier this week, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) asked retired Army Major General Robert H. Scales about this possibility during a Congressional hearing regarding Syria.
Scales replied: The largest Iranian embassy in the world is in Venezuela. A chemical like sarin is something that you could put in a hipflask and get across the border. It’s really fundamental to the essence of our ability to protect the nation, particularly now that this horrible commodity called sarin has been loosed in the Middle East and the bar against its use, I would predict, will continue to lower.While the point of crossing might be Texas or Arizona or New Mexico, the point of impact could very well be Pennsylvania or Montana or New York. Because once you’re across the border, it’s nothing more than an interstate trip of a couple of days to put the stuff right in the heartland. |
In addition to increasing national security risks, AB 60 also brings other consequences to Californians:The report of the blue ribbon commission investigating the attacks of 9/11 clearly stated that the ability of the terrorists to obtain valid, government-issued identity documents facilitated their ability to plan and execute the deadly attacks. In response, Congress enacted the REAL ID Act in 2005, with the intent of discouraging state governments from issuing driver’s licenses and other identity documents to illegal aliens under threat of invalidating those documents for federal identification purposes. AB 60 is designed to circumvent requirements of REAL ID Act, ignoring the serious homeland security threats the federal law sought to address.
Although the licenses may not be used for federal identification purposes, AB 60 includes explicit protections for holders of these documents. In particular, the bill makes it “a violation of law to discriminate against an individual because he or she holds or presents a license issued under these provisions.” The bill also bars police from using these driver’s licenses as a basis for arresting or detaining an individual for violations of federal immigration laws.