Maine license proposal inadequate

Six years. It has been six long years since Sept. 11 and the Maine Legislature is only now taking up a bill to require that someone be a Maine resident to get a driver’s license.

How many Mainers knew this?

How many Mainers know that Maine is one of only five states that issue drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens?

Until recently, there were eight states issuing drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens but one of the results of the controversy over New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s failed attempt to give drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens was the announcement by Michigan, Oregon and, most recently, Maryland that they were discontinuing the practice.

The Legislature’s Transportation Committee held a hearing Feb. 14 on a bill to require that applicants for a Maine driver’s license be residents of Maine. In addition to hearing public comments, the committee is also considering a working group report from Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap’s Office that has recommendations for a residency requirement. The recommendations of the Dunlap Working Group are inadequate and would be ineffective.

One of the things they recommend as proof of residency is a utility bill. A renter who does not receive a utility bill could obtain a form supplied by the Secretary of State’s Office that the landlord would sign and would then be submitted as proof the renter was a Maine resident.

There is no better illustration of the ineffectiveness of this recommendation than the situation reported on the day after the hearing of the illegal alien who came to Maine, rented a room in Portland and obtained a Maine driver’s license that was used to purchase a gun that the illegal alien used in a bank robbery. Under the recommendations made by the Dunlap Working Group, the illegal alien could have had his landlord sign a statement as proof of the applicant’s Maine residency.

Vermont has a residency requirement and does accept a utility bill but they also require that noncitizens prove they are in the United States legally. Maine does not have such a requirement and that is not one of the recommendations before the Transportation Committee.

Another thing the Dunlap Working Group considered and rejected was a waiting period between the time an application is made and when the official license is sent to the applicant. A waiting period allows officials time to scrutinize and verify the documentation presented by the applicant.

New Hampshire has a 90-day waiting period for all applicants. Vermont does not have a waiting period for U.S. citizens but does have a waiting period for non-U.S. citizens. The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles gives the foreign applicants a temporary license that can be used to drive a vehicle while they wait for their official Vermont license. The temporary license – this is critical – does not have a photo so it cannot be used for identification, especially as identification to buy a gun.

The five states that continue to issue drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens are Maine, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Hawaii. If the Maine Legislature passes a bill to establish a residency requirement without including a provision to verify the legal presence in the United States of the applicants, they should at least include a waiting period to allow officials to scrutinize documentation and verify its authenticity, and they should limit the list of acceptable proofs of residency to those that are the most reliable. No utility bill; no statement signed by a landlord.

Robert Casimiro of Bridgton is executive director of Mainers for a Sustainable Immigration Policy. He can be reached at arcasimiro@msn.com.