To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this?
I do have to admit that I like Mr. Gallegos' idea concerning the one-day strike. Whoever doesn't show for work that day- make a list, check it twice, and haul them out of the United States at their first possible convenience. Don't give them driver's licenses or drivers' permits or whatever they call them.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Gov. Jon Huntsman on Tuesday signed a bill replacing regular Utah driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants with driving privilege cards that can't be used as official identification to board airplanes or register to vote.I guess my question should have been "what NOT wrong with this? They're giving driving priviledges to undocumented aliens? Second-class status to minorities? This has nothing to do with minority citezens- we're talking about people who are in the country only because they broke the law. Why are they not shipping them off to jail or out of the country back where they came from?
The move comes a day after hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest the bill, arguing that the cards amount to second-class status for minorities.
The driving privilege card must be renewed annually. Undocumented immigrants must surrender their driver's licenses on their birthdays or on July 1, whichever is sooner.
Huntsman spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi said the governor has been "pretty strong, from the beginning, in support of this bill" and was undeterred by opposition in the minority community.
The bill's Republican sponsor, Sen. Curtis Bramble, said the measure was a compromise, because it still allowed undocumented immigrants to drive.
"I don't believe that it's the role of the State of Utah to provide documentation or some type of ID so that someone who is illegal can travel with impunity," Bramble said.
Bob Gallegos, president of the Hispanic lobbying group RAZ-PAC, vowed Tuesday to seek legal action against the law, and said he and other minority leaders would organize a one-day strike to prove how important undocumented workers are to the Utah economy.
I do have to admit that I like Mr. Gallegos' idea concerning the one-day strike. Whoever doesn't show for work that day- make a list, check it twice, and haul them out of the United States at their first possible convenience. Don't give them driver's licenses or drivers' permits or whatever they call them.
