PORTLAND, Maine - Authorities nabbed the first group in September 2006, illegal immigrants from Poland and Peru cruising down Washington Avenue, all of them in town to apply for Maine driver's licenses. The next month, authorities arrested another group. Last month, they caught a third. Maine is the only state in New England in which illegal immigrants can still get driver's licenses, and federal officials fear that Vacationland is becoming a destination of a different sort: The go-to state for unlawful immigrants seeking state identification that would make it easier to live, work, and drive in the United States. Now pressure is intensifying on Maine to tighten its rules, following Michigan, Oregon, and most US states with tougher requirements. During last month's arrests, a New Jersey driver reportedly told authorities that illegal immigrants know that a Maine license is an easy catch. "On every single level, it gets to Mainers," said Dean Scontras, a Republican candidate for the US House of Representatives. "The more you draw people to this state for the wrong reasons, it drives the behavior we don't want." The issue is turning this predominantly white state into an unlikely battleground for illegal immigration. Only 3.2 percent of Maine's 1.3 million residents are immigrants. But Maine is among a shrinking group, including Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Utah and Washington, in which illegal immigrants can get licenses because of legal loopholes or special programs, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Proponents of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants living in Maine, including the Maine Civil Liberties Union, say licenses ensure that everyone has passed the required driving exams, gets insurance, and is added to a state database so he or she can be tracked. But critics say the practice is a security risk: With licenses, people who aren't supposed to be in the United States could use airports, enter federal buildings, or purchase firearms. Having lax rules could attract illegal immigrants from other states, they say, which is not what either side intended. Maine does notrequire people who apply for driver's licenses to prove that they are in the country legally, or even that they reside in the state. Applicants must pass a written test, a road test, and show identification, such as a passport or birth certificate. In 2005, Maine strengthened the rules to require a Social Security number or proof that an applicant is ineligible for one, but critics say illegal immigrants are still getting through the system. About 2,600 of Maine's 1 million licensed drivers, less than 1 percent, do not have bona fide Social Security numbers, which means they could be in the country illegally, according to the secretary of state. After much criticism - including from CNN's Lou Dobbs, who this year called the governor and secretary of state "complete idiots" - the Legislature is considering making state residency a requirement to get a license. Governor John Baldacci, a Democrat, said through a spokesman that he would consider screening for legal immigration residency, as well. But Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who oversees the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, said stricter rules for licenses will not solve the problem. Instead, he said, Congress should fix a system that has allowed 12 million illegal immigrants to enter the country.
"Their immigration status is really their problem, not my problem," Dunlap said. "If you don't give them licenses, you're doing two things: You're ensuring they're going to drive anyway, and you're just driving them into the shadows." In downtown Portland recently, fallout from the debate played out on the streets, where illegal immigrants waited in thin sweatshirts and rubber boots for rides to fish plants and furniture factories. Several workers said they didn't bother to get a license because they feared getting pulled over and deported. Instead, they walk, ride bicycles or the bus, or carpool with a licensed driver. "It would be good to get a license," said Sammy, 27, who declined to give his last name because he is in the county illegally from Chiapas, Mexico. "Sometimes I get a job far away, and if nobody can take me, then I can't go." A 24-year-old man from Guatemala, who would not give his name, said he and a cousin abandoned their car in Texas after an accident a few years ago, something he said he would not have done if he had a license and did not fear deportation. "If the police stop you, you're out," he said as he waited for a ride to his second job assembling furniture. But federal authorities said Maine is attracting illegal immigrants from other states, solely to get licenses and return home. In 2006, federal authorities arrested and charged two Polish immigrants in separate driver's license schemes with transporting illegal immigrants to Maine from New York, Connecticut, and other states in exchange for $750 to $1,200 each, according to federal court documents. The men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to more than a year in jail each. In February, a New Jersey man was arrested for transporting two illegal immigrants to Maine to get licenses. "It's a security issue that needs to be looked at and needs to be seriously addressed," said US Attorney Paula Silsby, who has prosecuted these cases. "The current policy in Maine is a failed policy." Massachusetts, like many states, requires proof of state residency to get a driver's license, which is believed to screen out illegal immigrants. Governor Deval Patrick has said he would consider driver's licenses for immigrants without legal papers, but the issue has largely been abandoned. Other states have struck a compromise. In 2005, Utah created "driving privilege cards," which look slightly different from driver's licenses, for immigrants and others who lack Social Security numbers. In January, a state audit found that 76 percent of driving-card holders had vehicle insurance, similar to 82 percent of regular licensed drivers, suggesting that illegal immigrants were obeying the rules. Though the law has been criticized, it recently survived an attempt to repeal it. "The governor does think that this program is working," said Lisa Roskelley, spokeswoman for Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., a Republican. In Portland, where snow still covered the ground in front of the red-brick buildings downtown earlier this month, Rosa Gonzalez said she hoped the state would take a different approach and make sure immigrants can get licenses. They have to go to work in freezing temperatures, she said, and it's hard to get around without a car. "It snows practically every day up here," said Gonzalez, a US citizen originally from the Dominican Republic and an owner of La Bodega Latina, a market catering to immigrants with 13 versions of hot sauces and a kiosk for sending money home. "They have to work. If they don't work, they don't live."
Some say its too easy for them to get them here in Mass too. Oh and I am one of those people.
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