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Groups say DMV policy will hurt immigrants
By MARK JOHNSON
The Associated Press
3/18/2004, 3:45 p.m. ET
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Immigrant advocates say a state policy requiring that a driver's Social Security data on file at the Department of Motor Vehicles match information at the Social Security Administration will make New York roads more dangerous by forcing many immigrants to drive without a license.
After verifying about 2.8 million records, 112,000 warning letters were sent earlier this week to people whose data did not match, state Motor Vehicles Commissioner Raymond Martinez said Thursday.
New York is going through 10 million to 11 million driver's license, non-driver identification and learner's permit records to update its database and make sure its documents are in proper hands, Martinez said. He hopes the task will be completed by the end of the year.
Immigrant groups say the state's policy is wrongheaded and this week staged a rally at the Capitol to protest. Immigrants who've worked and driven in the country for years without incident say they're being unfairly targeted.
"Suddenly we're criminalizing immigrants regardless of their status," said Gouri Sadhwani, executive director of the New York Civic Participation Project, an immigrant and labor group. "We're forcing people underground." :roll:
The department is required to collect Social Security numbers under state and federal laws targeted toward parents trying to avoid child-support payments. Martinez said the department's effort will also prevent convicted criminals from forging new identities, prevent identity theft and stop those who are "trying to beat the system."
"We are not the INS, and we have no intention of playing that role," Martinez said. "It is our mission to make sure we have a database as close to clear as possible. We have to make sure the people we've issued documents to are entitled to receive them."
Sadhwani said using Social Security numbers as a form of identification is misguided.
There are many reasons why Social Security information might not match the database information, including name changes from divorces or marriages or simple clerical errors, Sadhwani said.
Oh, no!
"The numbers are not national ID numbers and that's how they are being treated," she said. "That was never their intention. That number is to be able to allow workers to pay into a system to have a benefit at the end of their time working."
Ricardo, an undocumented truck driver from Ecuador, said through a translator that he doesn't know what he'll do when he gets the letter. A Queens resident who would only use his first name, he has lived in the United States since 1992 and got his license by giving a fake Social Security number. :shock:
He's worried that if he loses his license, he won't have a way to pay for the house he recently bought, or support his wife and child in Ecuador.
Martinez said people who use fraudulent documents are subject to arrest, and if Immigration and Naturalization Service or Social Security Administration documents were used, those agencies are notified, he said.
That some undocumented immigrants have been "upstanding citizens doesn't affect my responsibility as commissioner," Martinez said. He did not estimate how many people would likely lose their driver's licenses.
People whose records have discrepancies through name changes or misprints can have their status corrected without penalty, he said.
So much for the "spokesman's" BS argument
Chung-Wah Hong, advocacy director for The New York Immigration Coalition, contends the state policy will make New York's roads less safe and many immigrants will be forced to drive without passing the tests needed to get a license.
"We think DMV policy should be based on safety," she said. "A lot of people with Social Security numbers that don't match the records are likely to be immigrants who need to be driving to go to work and do everyday things like taking the kids to school.
"They'll be a danger to themselves and everybody else," she said.
And people running around with fake SS#'s and licenses aren't dangerous?? :?:
Sadhwani said the New York effort is part of a national trend that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In December, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a repeal of a law that would have let undocumented immigrants get driver's licenses after Jan. 1.
Federal lawmakers are considering the "Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act" or CLEAR Act, which would require local police to act as immigration officers.
=================================
Groups say DMV policy will hurt immigrants
By MARK JOHNSON
The Associated Press
3/18/2004, 3:45 p.m. ET
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Immigrant advocates say a state policy requiring that a driver's Social Security data on file at the Department of Motor Vehicles match information at the Social Security Administration will make New York roads more dangerous by forcing many immigrants to drive without a license.
After verifying about 2.8 million records, 112,000 warning letters were sent earlier this week to people whose data did not match, state Motor Vehicles Commissioner Raymond Martinez said Thursday.
New York is going through 10 million to 11 million driver's license, non-driver identification and learner's permit records to update its database and make sure its documents are in proper hands, Martinez said. He hopes the task will be completed by the end of the year.
Immigrant groups say the state's policy is wrongheaded and this week staged a rally at the Capitol to protest. Immigrants who've worked and driven in the country for years without incident say they're being unfairly targeted.
"Suddenly we're criminalizing immigrants regardless of their status," said Gouri Sadhwani, executive director of the New York Civic Participation Project, an immigrant and labor group. "We're forcing people underground." :roll:
The department is required to collect Social Security numbers under state and federal laws targeted toward parents trying to avoid child-support payments. Martinez said the department's effort will also prevent convicted criminals from forging new identities, prevent identity theft and stop those who are "trying to beat the system."
"We are not the INS, and we have no intention of playing that role," Martinez said. "It is our mission to make sure we have a database as close to clear as possible. We have to make sure the people we've issued documents to are entitled to receive them."
Sadhwani said using Social Security numbers as a form of identification is misguided.
There are many reasons why Social Security information might not match the database information, including name changes from divorces or marriages or simple clerical errors, Sadhwani said.
Oh, no!
"The numbers are not national ID numbers and that's how they are being treated," she said. "That was never their intention. That number is to be able to allow workers to pay into a system to have a benefit at the end of their time working."
Ricardo, an undocumented truck driver from Ecuador, said through a translator that he doesn't know what he'll do when he gets the letter. A Queens resident who would only use his first name, he has lived in the United States since 1992 and got his license by giving a fake Social Security number. :shock:
He's worried that if he loses his license, he won't have a way to pay for the house he recently bought, or support his wife and child in Ecuador.
Martinez said people who use fraudulent documents are subject to arrest, and if Immigration and Naturalization Service or Social Security Administration documents were used, those agencies are notified, he said.
That some undocumented immigrants have been "upstanding citizens doesn't affect my responsibility as commissioner," Martinez said. He did not estimate how many people would likely lose their driver's licenses.
People whose records have discrepancies through name changes or misprints can have their status corrected without penalty, he said.
So much for the "spokesman's" BS argument
Chung-Wah Hong, advocacy director for The New York Immigration Coalition, contends the state policy will make New York's roads less safe and many immigrants will be forced to drive without passing the tests needed to get a license.
"We think DMV policy should be based on safety," she said. "A lot of people with Social Security numbers that don't match the records are likely to be immigrants who need to be driving to go to work and do everyday things like taking the kids to school.
"They'll be a danger to themselves and everybody else," she said.
And people running around with fake SS#'s and licenses aren't dangerous?? :?:
Sadhwani said the New York effort is part of a national trend that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In December, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a repeal of a law that would have let undocumented immigrants get driver's licenses after Jan. 1.
Federal lawmakers are considering the "Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act" or CLEAR Act, which would require local police to act as immigration officers.
