{"id":27265,"date":"2011-03-15T21:17:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T03:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=27265"},"modified":"2011-03-15T21:17:29","modified_gmt":"2011-03-16T03:17:29","slug":"why-i-support-the-current-driver%e2%80%99s-license-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/why-i-support-the-current-driver%e2%80%99s-license-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I support the current driver\u2019s license law"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_27267\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 120px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27267\" title=\"Chasey, Gail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Chasey-Gail.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"120\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gail Chasey<\/p><\/div>\n<p>During the heated 2010 election, the\u00a0Albuquerque Journal\u00a0published <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abqjournal.com\/news\/state\/052111236130newsstate09-05-10.htm\" target=\"_blank\">results of a survey<\/a> that showed a large majority of voters in favor of ending the practice of allowing \u201cillegal immigrants\u201d to get\u00a0drivers\u2019 licenses\u00a0in the state. What if the question had been: Should\u00a0foreign nationals\u00a0pay the same\u00a0car registration fees\u00a0and be required to carry the same car insurance as N.M. residents?<\/p>\n<p>I believe the majority of New Mexicans would have answered \u201cyes.\u201d But the debate was framed to play on people\u2019s fears rather than focusing on reasonable differences and possible solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Our governor calls the law dangerous, but it isn\u2019t the law that\u2019s dangerous \u2013 it\u2019s the rhetoric.\u00a0It divides us as a society.<\/p>\n<h3>Public safety<\/h3>\n<p>When the Legislature passed the law in 2003, public safety was the most compelling reason to do so. Law enforcement officials\u00a0from throughout the state argued persuasively that public safety would improve greatly if all drivers in the state were licensed, insured and in the MVD database.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>They also explained that investigating and solving crimes would improve if undocumented workers felt safe in coming forward as victims or witnesses. In a 4.5-hour hearing of the House Consumer and\u00a0Public Affairs Committee, attended by more than 300 people, on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011, testimony by victims\u2019 rights organizations, the Santa Fe sheriff and chief of police overwhelmingly confirmed these benefits to public safety.<\/p>\n<p>With a driver\u2019s license, immigrants are more likely to do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stay or render aid at the scene of an accident and exchange insurance information.<\/li>\n<li>Pay fines for\u00a0traffic violations.<\/li>\n<li>Cooperate with investigations.<\/li>\n<li>Report incidents of\u00a0domestic violence\u00a0\u2013 because victims need a valid form of ID to go to court and request\u00a0restraining orders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even more important, the law helps\u00a0prevent DWI\u00a0by requiring that all such individuals under the age of 25 take a DWI prevention course and pass an exam before they can apply.<\/p>\n<p>The law also helps\u00a0track crime. All law enforcement, including federal immigration agents, can access MVD records to obtain photos, information, and last known addresses for individuals with\u00a0outstanding arrest warrants.<\/p>\n<h3>Benefits to the economy<\/h3>\n<p>Because immigrants can now buy auto insurance, the\u00a0uninsured motorist\u00a0rate has decreased and, as a result,\u00a0car insurance premiums\u00a0have dropped for all New Mexicans. In order to get a license, immigrants must obtain an IRS-issued Individual Tax Identification Number (I-TIN).<\/p>\n<p>Immigrants, as a result, must file their\u00a0federal income taxes. Immigrants also use the I-TIN to pay\u00a0state income taxes, contributing millions to New Mexico\u2019s tax base. In the last eight years, immigrants without\u00a0social security numbers\u00a0but with I-TINs have paid over $17 million in license and registration fees to MVD and $320 million in\u00a0auto insurance premiums.<\/p>\n<p>Since the law was passed in 2003, 83,000 drivers have taken the visual, written and road exams and registered their vehicles.<\/p>\n<h3>About fraud<\/h3>\n<p>It is true that the state must be vigilant about fraud and abuse related to the issuance of all drivers\u2019 licenses, and particular attention must be paid to those applicants who do not have a Social Security number.<\/p>\n<p>MVD has seriously tightened its regulations, making them far more rigorous. Recent reports of arrests for fraud and abuse suggest that the increased security is working. In fact, fraud has been detected in only 5 percent of MVD applications.<\/p>\n<p>Consequences of repealing the law<\/p>\n<p>Even if we change the law, these individuals will still drive. But they won\u2019t have car insurance, and, as a result:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Our rate of\u00a0uninsured motorists\u00a0would no doubt increase.<\/li>\n<li>Premiums for everyone would also likely increase.<\/li>\n<li>These individuals would be less likely to have ITINs and thus less likely to pay their state and federal taxes.<\/li>\n<li>They won\u2019t be in the MVD database.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At the committee hearing, we were reminded by Allen Sanchez, executive director of the\u00a0New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops,\u00a0that Jesus was an immigrant, as was the\u00a0Good Samaritan\u00a0who showed compassion to Jesus. Mr. Sanchez also asked us to examine our consciences and ask ourselves if this debate is about fraud or really about who we want as our neighbor.<\/p>\n<p>There is more to the story than any sound bite, robocall or edited video of a committee meeting can provide.<\/p>\n<p>I stand by my vote.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HCHAS\" target=\"_blank\">Chasey<\/a>, a Democrat, represents the Albuquerque-area District 18 in the N.M. House of Representatives. She is the Chair of the Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, and is a member of the Judiciary and Rules and Order of Business. Last week she voted against House Bill 78, which would have repealed the law permitting immigrants to apply for\u00a0driving licenses.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our governor calls the law that allows foreign nationals to obtain driver&#8217;s licenses dangerous, but it isn\u2019t the law that\u2019s dangerous \u2013 it\u2019s the rhetoric. It divides us as a society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2081,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-27265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27265","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\/2081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}