{"id":125329,"date":"2016-02-09T12:09:17","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T19:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=125329"},"modified":"2016-02-10T09:25:37","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T16:25:37","slug":"blame-the-feds-not-each-other-now-fix-our-drivers-licenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/02\/blame-the-feds-not-each-other-now-fix-our-drivers-licenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Blame the feds, not each other; now fix our driver’s licenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s all admit this isn\u2019t Gov. Susana Martinez\u2019s fault. It also isn\u2019t the fault of Democrats in the New Mexico Legislature.<\/p>\n

Policymakers have battled for years over how to address the reality that thousands of immigrants without legal status live in New Mexico and drive on our roads.<\/p>\n

\"Heath<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

In an effort to reduce the rate of uninsured motorists, ensure that drivers have passed basic knowledge and skill tests, and with a spirit of compassion, we\u2019ve allowed people without legal status to obtain New Mexico driver\u2019s licenses since 2003. That let many come out of the shadows a bit. They could legally drive their kids to school and themselves to work and other places.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve known immigrants without legal status who are good people. Some fled horrific situations elsewhere. Some, like Do\u00f1a Ana County residents Alejandra Gomez<\/a> and Alan Tarango<\/a>, who I profiled in 2013, were brought here by their parents and have never known another home. Others were invited in and given jobs while our system looked the other way. Many are just seeking a better life.<\/p>\n

The downside: Some foreign nationals have paid criminal rings to help them fraudulently obtain licenses. One ring<\/a> allegedly helped citizens of Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil, Guatemala, Uruguay and Honduras get New Mexico licenses and then move to other states.<\/p>\n

Those whose focus is helping immigrants living in New Mexico without legal status have a valid viewpoint. So do those who fear, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, that people who want to cause harm might misuse our licenses.<\/p>\n

While our state-level policymakers are in the thick of a contentious debate about our licenses, let\u2019s remember that the core problem is the federal government\u2019s failure to reform the United States\u2019 broken immigration system.<\/p>\n

The feds have put state-level policymakers in a complex and unfair position \u2013 having to deal with the fallout of Washington\u2019s inaction.<\/p>\n

Now the feds are beginning to enforce a 2005 national security law \u2013 the REAL ID Act \u2013 that punishes residents of states, including New Mexico, whose licenses don\u2019t meet certain standards. Such licenses are no longer valid forms of identification to get onto military installations<\/a> and some other federal facilities. Licenses that aren\u2019t REAL ID compliant may eventually not get people on airplanes.<\/p>\n

The feds are exacerbating their mess by forcing REAL ID on states without first addressing immigration. It\u2019s maddening. State-level policymakers have every right to be pissed off.<\/p>\n

In New Mexico they\u2019re directing their anger at each other, which threatens our ability to find compromise. REAL ID forces us to resolve this now.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way this session, with Martinez agreeing to give immigrants without legal status a way to legally drive. The debate is now about details \u2013 including whether such immigrants have to be fingerprinted<\/a> and how often they\u2019ll have to renew driving privileges.<\/p>\n

With tensions high, I fear the final details could derail compromise, leaving us all with licenses that don\u2019t comply with REAL ID.<\/p>\n

Can our policymakers all please take a breath? Can you admit that those with whom you\u2019re debating also have valid views and are unfairly forced to wrestle with issues the federal government refuses to fix?<\/p>\n

All people living in New Mexico \u2013 citizens, immigrants with legal status, and immigrants without legal status \u2013 need you to resolve this. We\u2019re counting on you.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get this done. Then let\u2019s direct all this righteous anger toward a renewed push for sensible immigration reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s get this done. Then let\u2019s direct all this righteous anger toward a renewed push for sensible immigration reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[3250,140,270,2235,107,116],"class_list":["post-125329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2016-legislative-session","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-drivers-licenses","tag-national-security","tag-roundhouse","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}