Unless you are one of the undocumented, the push to revoke driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants by NM Governor Susana Martinez would seem to be a monumental waste of time and energy relative to other problems in this impoverished state.
Weighing her legislative priorities, Governor Martinez has bowed to the far right who seem to believe this is the most important issue of our time. Or perhaps she has national ambitions in mind. After all, due entirely to her last name, she has been mentioned as a possible running mate for at least one Republican presidential candidate, although she robotically denied any interest in serving as vice-president (as is typical for potential nominees at this stage).
The question is this: why won’t Governor Martinez compromise on the issue and move on? Isn’t that what responsible governance and leadership is all about? Martinez has disingenuously framed the debate as a “safety issue” but reversed the safety logic to suit her 2010 campaign promise to kill Governor Richardson’s HB 401 legislation. But what could possibly be less safe than disallowing a subset of NM drivers to be licensed to drive on NM state highways and freeways?
Do we really want to turn back the clock and return to the pre-Richardson numbers of uninsured and unlicensed drivers of 33%?
If Governor Martinez truly believes the conservative fairy tale ideology that “if we make illegal immigrants lives so difficult they will “self-deport,” then she needs serious counseling. The bottom line is that illegal immigrants will continue to drive, licensed or not.
This self-deportation issue was first raised by Daniel D. Portado in 1994 as satire. But the joke is on the GOP, especially Mitt Romney, for taking it seriously, and on Martinez for enacting self-destructive legislation designed to support the concept.
It’s not that there isn’t a shortage of driver’s license compromises. For example, NM Representative Bill O’Neill (D-Albuquerque) offered a solution in which New Mexico would issue a special type of driver’s license, similar to Utah’s. This license would allow undocumented aliens to drive legally and safely since they would have to pass a driver’s test. They would continue to be insured so they and other drivers would be protected in case of accidents. And they could drive to their jobs and take their children to school.
But opponents claim the O’Neill proposal will not prevent illegals from taking this type of license out of state and use it to obtain a regular driver’s license elsewhere and potentially gain access to rights and privileges that U.S. citizens enjoy. If so, this would be a flawed, half-measure in need of revision.
So perhaps there is blame on both sides of the aisle for what should be a relatively “no-brainer” type of compromise legislation. But brains seem to be in short supply in Santa Fe these days. And time is running short. There is only one week left in New Mexico’s minuscule 30-day legislative session to get any real work done. Tick tock.
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