The last time we checked on California’s new rules for issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, the Department of Motor Vehicles was so overwhelmed with requests for new licenses that it can take up to three months to get an appointment…even for lawful citizens.
The new program has been so popular that now over 110,000 illegal immigrants now hold those vital pieces of identification.
California has handed out 110,000 driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally during the first seven weeks of applications.The figures for all of January and much of February were released this week by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.In early January when the law took effect, hundreds of immigrants lined up at designated DMV offices for walk-in appointments.The applicants have to submit documents and take a written test, and later, they must take a road test. They receive licenses that read “not acceptable for official federal purposes” like boarding planes.
Let’s take a look at the written test requirements for a moment. I remember studying diligently for several hours before taking my exam several years ago, and being very nervous about getting the correct answers. It is difficult to believe so many immigrants who have not had basic educational opportunities either here or in their native land would pass the exam.
In fact, 80% of those in the nation’s capital failed.
Four out of five illegal immigrants seeking driver’s licenses under a new D.C. law have failed a written knowledge test — a rocky start to a program that in its first two months has issued 268 licenses, according to city officials.The failure rate of 80 percent compares with a 58 percent failure rate for people seeking traditional driver’s licenses, the Department of Motor Vehicles told a D.C. Council committee. In addition, a check of the DMV website this week shows a massive backlog in appointments required to apply for the District’s “limited-purpose license.” The first available date for an illegal immigrant to get an appointment is in March, and more than 6,000 appointments are pending.
Reports from Nevada indicate a 90% failure rate. This is troubling, indeed, from a safety perspective. The following information has been reported about car accident statistics as they relate to illegal immigrants.
For a detailed report on what is happening on the roads and highways of the East Coast see the article Harvest of death on the Eastern Shore where it is reported that while 5% of the population in the area is Hispanic they are involved in 25% of the fatal traffic accidents, an astounding 5 times as much participation as representation. Given the fact that most members of the Hispanic community are law abiding and responsible citizens, that means that a large percentage of the illegal alien portion of the Hispanic community is even worse. How much worse nobody knows because nobody is tracking it.A review of State Police auto accident reports for 2002 through 2004 for that area of the Eastern Shore also revealed that of the 179 accidents involving Hispanic laborers:
- 75% of the drivers had no auto insurance.
- Nearly all of the vehicles driven by migrants were registered to other drivers.
- 93% of the vehicles had false out-of-state tags.
In 2003 and 2004, 128 of the 395 people, 32.4%, arrested on DUI charges were Hispanic, a rate six times greater than the Hispanic portion of the population.
I will be very interested in analyzing California’s car accident numbers at the end of next year.
The report from the DMV indicates that within the next 3 years, 1.4 million immigrants will have California licenses — regardless of immigration status.
So, in addition to jeopardizing our personal safety, amnesty is endangering the safeguards in our voting system…the fine print on those new licenses notwithstanding.
[Featured Image: News9 Video]
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