California Okays Licenses for Illegal Alilens

n multiracial California where white people are a minority, the state Assembly passed and the governor signed legislation to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

Introduced by Hispanic state Sen. Gil Cedillo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, the legislation will help illegals settle permanently in the U.S. without having to go through normal immigration procedures, and at the same time aid terrorists needing to establish identities to help them navigate American society.

Left-wing Democrat Gov. Gray Davis, facing a recall election which he needs Hispanic votes to survive, had promised to sign the bill "in a heartbeat."

Davis had earlier vetoed two similar bills since becoming governor, citing concerns expressed by law enforcement officials. After he vetoed a driver's license bill for illegals last year, the legislature's Latino Caucus refused to endorse him for re-election.
"Why is he willing to put the state at risk, the country at risk, the electorate at risk? It's his last gasp at keeping the governorship," charged Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, a Republican.

Because applicants are automatically encouraged to register to vote when they obtain a driver's license, many worry about the ability of illegal aliens to influence elections.

The new law is "an invitation for voter fraud," said Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, a Republican. "Why don't we just rescind the need for citizenship?" In Los Angeles County, one need only show a driver's license to register to vote, opening up elections to millions of illegal aliens.

According the U.S. Census Bureau, America is home to some 11 million illegal aliens. Other estimates run as high as 13 million. Demographers estimate that a very large percent of illegals live in California.

In nearly every state, a driver's license is the gateway to other documents and privileges. It is the basic identity card that can be used for everything from cashing checks at the supermarket to casting a ballot on election day. Holders are presumed to be U.S. citizens. Illegal aliens - and terrorists - with an American driver's license will be able to use them with tickets to board airplanes and purchase firearms.

In a federal report issued just days after the Assembly voted to approve the bill, the General Accounting Office in Washington warned that state motor vehicle departments are "vulnerable" to fraudulent driver's license applications, posing a national security threat in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

In a nearly year-long undercover operation, GAO investigators found that in nearly half of the states, motor vehicle employees relied solely on visual inspection of documents to verify an applicant's identity, without checking with the issuing agency. Out of state driver's licenses, which are often forged, often sufficed for identification without an electronic check with the issuing state.

"A driver's license is the most commonly accepted document used to identify an individual," said Robert J. Cramer, managing director of the GAO's office of special investigations. "The weaknesses we identified during this investigation clearly show that the application process is vulnerable to identity fraud with serious consequences for national security."

The report was commissioned by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA.

Several of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks had obtained Virginia driver's licenses by exploiting state law that allowed them simply to submit a sworn statement saying they lived in the state.

GAO agents posed as license applicants, visiting motor vehicle departments between July 2002 and May 2003. The agents forged documents using tools readily available at stores and online, include copiers, scanners, heavy paper, and official-looking stamps and seals. They often used fraudulently obtained licenses from one state to obtain licenses in other states.

After Gov. Davis signed the bill into law, the beleaguered politician attended a rally to showcase his support for Hispanic causes. "The predominantly Hispanic crowd waved Mexican flags, and flags from various Central American countries," reported Associated Press.

"You have the right to drive to work," said Davis in a speech commingled with Spanish.

But the new law does not give special entitlement to drive. By a bilateral agreement, Mexican citizens with valid Mexican driver's licenses are already allowed to drive. The only purpose of the new California law is to help illegal aliens hide their illegality and provide terrorists with the cover they need to move about freely.

According to Lowell Ponte of FrontPageMagazine.com, Sen. Cedillo who authored the new law and attended the rally with Davis, was once asked by a reporter why he thought illegals ought to be allowed to remain in the U.S.

"They were here first," he said, echoing radical Mexican claims to the southeast U.S.

Cedillo, like gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante, was a member of the racist revolutionary group MEChA, the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan.

The rally heralding the new law was also attended by aspiring arsonist and Hispanic activist Mario Obledo who once threatened to burn down a billboard opposing illegal immigration if the owners did not take it down.

"California is going to be a Hispanic state," Obledo famously said. "And anyone who doesn't like should leave. They should go back to Europe."