Driving Is a Privilege, Not a Right

Driving a car and obtaining a valid driver’s license is something every teenager longs for. Their parents are the ones who decide whether or not they are responsible enough to own one because owning a driver’s license is a privilege, not a right. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants feel that obtaining a driver’s license should be their right for working in the United States illegally and that each member of their family should own a car as well. There are already 8.7 to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States and more keep arriving each year (Tanton par. 8). Many problems will develop if this idea is legalized: cities will become over-crowded, more accidents will be seen on the roads and freeways, violence will become more frequent in our neighborhoods, they would be able to vote in popular and important elections, and terrorists will have easier access to America’s airlines and personal information. Illegal immigrants should not have a valid driver’s license in any state. They are illegal in this country and should only deserve one if they take the time to become a legal U.S. citizen.

If this idea of illegal immigrants obtaining driver’s licenses comes into effect, there will be more illegal aliens coming into the United States then ever before. The vast majority of the population will contain a much lower income due to the over-crowding of cities. The unemployment rate will skyrocket because the number of people trying to get jobs will out number the amount of job opportunities.

Not only will cities become over-crowded, but the roads and freeways as well. The more illegal immigrants driving on roads and freeways, the more accidents America will be seeing. The majority of illegal immigrants probably cannot read or speak any English. If they cannot read the country they are living in illegally’s language, then how are they going to know where to turn or what direction they are going? How would they know the correct speed limit? They would be driving either too fast or too slow and cause many accidents. If they do not know which direction to turn, they could panic and cut off other drivers or make abrupt lane changes. America’s freeways will become even more crowded than they already are. California has some of the worst freeways in the United States and adding more people would just make them become the worst in the world.

There are those who think differently, however. According to a few police chiefs in Atlanta, Georgia, roads will not become over-crowded and they will be much more safe. They feel that once an illegal immigrant obtains a valid driver’s license, they will go out and buy car insurance for their registered vehicle and that there will be less accidents because of the amount of insured drivers. The officers also believe that this idea will help police identify those who do not own a driver’s license or who carry fraudulent documents such as an illegal driver’s license or illegal car insurance(Bexler par. 2). Still, they are illegal and should not receive a driver’s license.

Ex-governor of California Gray Davis and Assemblymen Gil Cedillo support the idea of illegal immigrants obtaining driver’s licenses because they would get more support during important elections. Cedillo has started a bill called AB 60, which is a reintroduction to his last attempt called AB 1463. With this bill, illegal immigrants would be able to obtain a California driver’s license or identification card without the necessary social security number (House par. 1). In order for illegal immigrants to obtain a driver’s license, they would first have to provide proof of residency in California, a passport, fingerprints for a criminal background check, a federal tax identification number, and a signed document from a legal resident of California (Kline par. 9). The document the illegal immigrants would have to sign only acknowledges the fact that they are not allowed to vote in the United States or serve on juries. It does not state what consequences will come about if they do perform the indicated actions (Kline par. 10) There is a group called the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund that supports Cedillo’s idea of allowing illegal aliens to posses driver’s licenses, but feel that there should not be any background checks or other restrictions(Kline par. 13). The MALDEF feel that every citizen of Mexico coming into California should receive a license, whether they are criminals or not. The old bill, AB 1463, was vetoed in the year 2000 by former Governor Gray Davis. Davis stated that AB 1463 was an “invitation for fraud (House par. 9).” But once Davis’s job was starting to crumble, he decided to pass the new bill ,AB 60, to try and gain more support from legal and illegal Hispanics in the state of California before he was recalled. After what had happened on September 11, 2001, Gil Cedillo withdrew the bill