Attorney General Roy Cooper's office issued a highly anticipated opinion today saying that illegal immigrants who have been granted federal deferrals from deportation should be allowed to obtain driver's licenses. The DMV had said it would not issue such licenses until Cooper weighed in. It now should begin granting those licenses without delay.
Immigrants who have gotten the deferrals "are lawfully present in the United States during the period of deferment," Grayson Kelley, the chief deputy attorney general, wrote. "As such, (a state law provision) ... requires that such licenses be issued."
Cooper and his office made the right call. As we said in an editorial Monday, it makes little sense for the government to say that a person has the right to stay in the United States and work, but does not have the right to drive to that job legally. Under the deferred deportation program announced last June, qualifying immigrants receive two-year work permits.
Cooper's opinion puts North Carolina in the mainstream nationwide. Most states already allow noncitizens who hold work permits or who are granted deferred action to apply for driver's licenses. Only a handful do not.
Whether the deferred deporation program is an effective initiative is a separate debate. As long as it is the law of the land, it is in North Carolina's best interests to have those people on the roads legally, having demonstrated that they know traffic laws and can drive well enough to pass the state test.
Kelley's full letter to the DMV is available here.
-- Taylor Batten
Here is the hypocrisy in your argument:
ReplyDeleteAs long as it is the law of the land, it is in North Carolina's best interests to have those people on the roads legally, having demonstrated that they know traffic laws and can drive well enough to pass the state test.
-- Taylor Batten
They failed the first test, which was ILLEGALLY coming into the United States.
Continuing to enable these illegals is wrong.
In view of your editorial positions on immigration, gun rights, etc., your statement of purpose needs to be updated:
ReplyDelete"The Observer's editorial board despises Charlotte, the Carolinas, and the South, and has a problem with citizens who fail to submit to our statist/leftist agenda."
Much more honest.
What is it about "illegal" immigrants that you people don't want to acknowledge?? I always thought that when someone commits an "illegal" action, he/she loses certain rights. A strange new America.
ReplyDeleteMonday evening and the traffic seems horrendous. You decide to whip out your iPhone and log on to Google Maps to check out alternate routes when you see the dreaded warning that your battery is out of juice. TRAFFIC LAWYER PA
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