Radio Workshop

And Licenses For All (Transcript)

by Carla Sapsford

NARRATION

For most immigrant workers, driving is necessary to work. And if they can't get a license legally, they break the law by driving. Sooner or later these drives get into accidents and run up a big tab for insurers and other drivers alike. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz of Brooklyn introduced a bill that is expected to reach the House floor next month. His solution would use a federal identification number that many immigrants already have.

TAPE/Ortiz (:26)

They are going to drive anyway...If we allow them to use the federal ID identification number for them to work legally in this country, why not give themthe opportunity to have the chance to have a car, drive a car, buy an insurance and be accountable and responsible.

NARRATION

The government already considers these workers accountable for paying taxes, through their federal number. Rebecca Smith works for the National Employment Law Project. She says that immigrants should have the right to drive, if they also have the obligation to pay. And a licensed driver is a driver who can be tested.

TAPE/Smith

We are all safer when we have licensed drivers on our roads. Safer in terms of knowing who people are, and safer in terms of avoiding accidents caused by drivers who haven't been tested and have no access to insurance. The connection between licenses and terrorism is really a tenuous one.

NARRATION

Ever since the terrorist attacks, both sides agree that tracking drivers is a concern. The hijackers had dozens of illegal drivers licenses between them. Since then, groups who are working to restrict the number of illegal immigrants say it is dangerous to grant licenses to non-citizens. David Ray of the Federation of American Immigrant Reform says restricting licenses is a good way to deport undocumented workers. Granting licenses to unknown foreigners, he says, makes all Americans unsafe.

TAPE/Ray

The things that make it easy for illegal aliens to establish themselves in the US...Those avenues for immigrants are also being exploited by terrorists. There is more at stake than people driving without a license. We are talking about national security and we are talking about loss of American life on a major scale.

NARRATION

Ray and other advocates of immigration restrictions argue that the risk of inviting terrorism is high. Many New York drivers are buying fake licenses and tracking them is difficult. Jerry Gonzalez has been studying this issue for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund. He says states that have large immigrant populations like New York are being short-sighted about their workers.

TAPE/Gonzalez

States are reacting to an immigration policy that has not followed the demands for labor in this country...They'd much rather have everyone residing in that state be licensed and registration with the DMV and a picture. To have a license is to have a verifiable address than not having any information on these immigrants.

NARRATION

The lack of information on drivers is one reason why New York is not the only state considering changing their law. Four other states are considering a loosening of requirements. In the four states that have used the Tax ID number for licensing, uninsured motorist claims dropped by two thirds. This suggests a strong link between hit and runs and illegal drivers. Assemblyman Ortiz is particularly worried about this.

TAPE/Ortiz

These individuals sometimes have a tendency to leave the scene of the accidents where it took place. So therefore you have a double hit, the hit of the insurance and you have the hit of the health insurance, that the person who got hit, now has to cover for it.

NARRATION

No one disputes that costs are rising: for the state, for insurance companies, and for licensed drivers. And advocates for licensing reform are gaining momentum in statehouses across the country. If Assemblyman Ortiz gets his bill passed in Albany soon, New York may become a model nationwide. Carla Sapsford for Columbia Radio News.