Federal welfare licensing?

I agree with Glenn Reynolds that this drivers license bill by Congressman Sensenbrenner (whose proposed drug laws I dislike even more) is unconstitutional. Yet I also agree that the merits of the law are good.

As Glenn correctly asks, "why should illegal aliens be able to get drivers' licenses?"

How then, to achieve the merits, but in a constitutional manner? How about listing the same desired drivers license criteria, but instead of commandeering states' drivers licensing, simply deny all federal welfare benefits to applicants whose drivers licenses (or state identification) don't live up to the desired federal standards?

This would certainly render the substandard drivers licenses unattractive to illegal aliens, without commandeering state licensing, or even requiring states to to do anything. They could even keep their existing drivers licensing systems if they wanted to, which would allow citizens and non-citizens the right to drive, as well as enact a sort of automatic welfare reform for states wishing to opt out.

The Alien Driver Welfare Reform Act?

Why not?

It would be good for the Constitution, promoting the general welfare and all that founding stuff.

I guess that means it'd never pass....

UPDATE: More on the welfare connection here. (Via Jeff Percifield, who really does look like Jon Stewart.)

UPDATE: Via an InstaPundit reader, it appears that tying the identification to welfare and other federal benefits is what the bill already will do. At least so it appears:

If a state opted not to comply, its driver's licenses, even those issued to citizens and legal residents, would not be recognized as valid for federal identification purposes — such as boarding an airplane or opening a bank account. As a result, most states would probably adopt the new standards.
The bill has not been finalized, but there's also talk of a two-tiered system:

In the negotiations over the bill in Congress, a compromise was reached that would include guidelines for states that wish to create a two-tiered system for issuing driver's licenses, according to those close to the talks. Such a system would allow illegal immigrants to obtain licenses to drive, but those documents would not be valid for purposes of federal identification, the sources said.
The latter is somewhat inconsistent with the former. Because if certain extra features are required for federal identification, that does not preclude other than standard identification which would nonetheless allow state driving.

It's tough to analyze a statute which isn't there!

MORE: According to the LA Times, ACLU legislative counsel Tim Sparapani suggests that people whose states' drivers licenses fail the federal standards would be completely out of luck:

citizens of states that haven't made the changes won't be able to board a flight, take a train, enter a federal courthouse or even go to a Social Security building
Isn't he forgetting about a thing called a U.S. Passport? (All that's required is proof of citizenship.)

AND MORE: Did dilution of citizenship lead to the decline of Rome? For those wanting some classical perspective on this issue, I wrote this post over a year ago. Excerpt:

The decline of Rome has been considered to include in its origin Caracalla's Constitutio Antoniniana -- which diluted the once-privileged status of Roman citizenship by conferring it to everyone in the Empire with the exception of slaves.
(There's a lot more in the post, but I get bored by excessively repeating myself.)

posted by Eric on 05.03.05 at 05:45 PM





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Comments

It's putting the car before the horse. The US & the Bush administration still have their arms wide open for illegal immigration. So the result is de facto encouragement & reliance on illegal immigration, while telling these same illegals - who work their asses off & raise families here - they better find a way to live without driving. You try it.

Neither party wants to address the border situation for fear of offending the mythical Hispanic street

jeff   ·  May 3, 2005 07:04 PM

Actually, I don't have a problem with driver licenses being given to anyone who is qualified to operate an automobile on thte streets. The problem I have is using a driver licensing system as a Universal Identity System. DLs were never supposed to be used as an ID (just like SS cards). End that, and this isn't an issue anymore.

Phelps   ·  May 3, 2005 08:55 PM


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