Senate Floor Speech in Opposition to SB 60 - Illegal Alien Driver Licenses
Senator Tom McClintock - June 2, 2005

Mr. President:

 

Let’s make one thing very clear from the outset.  The new federal law DOES NOT require states to give driving-only driver’s licenses to foreign nationals illegally in this country.  The new federal law DOES NOT in any way sanction states that do not give driving-only driver’s licenses to foreign nationals illegally in this country.

 

This bill does many other things that are NOT required by federal law:

 

California currently requires every applicant for a driver’s license to prove they are legally in this country.  THIS BILL REPEALS THAT LAW.

 

California currently makes it a misdemeanor to assist an illegal alien in obtaining a driver’s license.  THIS BILL REPEALS THAT LAW.

 

Not only are these provisions NOT required by federal law, they are a radical departure from state law.

 

So what is the point of this bill?   California already recognizes a valid foreign driver’s license as proof of competence to operate a motor vehicle in this state.  So it is not about training.

 

Automobile insurance is already available to any foreign national travelling in the United States.  In fact, if I were to travel to Mexico as a foreign national, I would be subject to severe requirements for automobile insurance.  If the author were really concerned about this issue, he would be proposing reciprocal requirements for Mexican nationals travelling in the United States.

 

So here is the fine point of it.  The purpose of this measure and its predecessors is to make a very strong statement that it is the official policy of this state to ignore our nation’s immigration laws. 

 

Those laws require a foreign national illegally in the United States to be deported.  There is nothing radical or unusual about this.  Every other nation in the world has immigration laws.  The difference is that every other nation in the world enforces them.

 

By extending official state documents to illegal aliens, we are accommodating them in their violation of federal immigration law.  We are adopting an official policy that this state will simply turn a blind eye to violations of those laws.

 

If it comes to that, we might as well repeal our immigration laws as meaningless vestiges of bygone days when this nation actually valued its sovereignty and independence.