News Articles, Op-eds, and Letters

Senate Bill 833, which would grant four-year driver's licenses to Oregon's illegal immigrants, "recognizes reality," says The Oregonian editorial board ("Legal driving for illegal immigrants," April 5). How? "People come here illegally, they drive, and they'll continue to do both" -- whether SB833 is enacted or not.

But "giving people a chance to do legally that which they now do illegally," as the editorial phrases it, only encourages more people to do what had been illegal in the first place. A prime example is the amnesty of 1986, which granted legal presence to about 3 million...

Santa Fe, N.M. – When New Mexico began issuing driver’s licenses to non-citizens in 2003, then-Governor Bill Richardson had argued the policy would reduce the high number of uninsured drivers in the state.

Nearly a decade later, national statistics indicate the law failed to live up to its expectations.

New Mexico continues to rank near the top of the list of states with the most uninsured drivers, consistently registering nearly twice the national average, according to the Insurance Research Council.

In 2000, before the law went into effect, 26.3 percent of New...

Gov. John Kitzhaber’s proclamation dated May 1 revealed his office would work for the issuance of Oregon driver’s licenses to undocumented foreign nationals in conjunction with his directive requiring the Oregon State Police to accept Mexican matricula consular cards as identification at traffic stops. Those actions pose an unacceptable public safety risk to Oregonians.

During the past six years, far too many Oregon residents within a 70-mile radius of Salem have lost their lives to illegal aliens driving under the influence.

Judyth Anne Cox, 66, of Newberg — a wife and...

Authorities in New Mexico said they busted a fraud ring that allegedly forged false documents for undocumented immigrants who wanted to obtain a driver's license.

Rental agreements, bank statements, vehicle titles, and insurance paperwork were among the fake documents provided by the ring. In at least 54 cases, these documents were used to obtain licenses, police said.

The probe is continuing, and authorities said during a news conference that investigators believe hundreds of licenses have been fraudulently obtained through the ring over the past couple of years for...

Ministers are drawing up plans to ban people from taking their driving test in a foreign language following claims many motorists cannot read traffic signs.

Transport officials say 'political correctness' means that many motorists are being granted UK licenses, even though they do not have a basic grasp of English.

Every year around 90,000 theory tests - including bus driver tests - are taken in a foreign language, with the taxpayer footing the translation bill.

Safety fears: Around 90,000 people take their test in a foreign language each year

The...

NASHVILLE (AP)

Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants Friday after investigations found they were being shuttled from other states, using fake residency papers and sometimes bribing state workers to get the cards.

Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely said the program was being suspended while authorities reassess it "to ensure we're doing what's best for Tennesseans." "This program was a good idea in theory, but there have been issues with implementation," Nicely said.

The certificates, which are stamped "not valid for identification,"...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- When Jerry Tseng left the Driver License Station recently, he was the possessor of a new, and puzzling, form of identification.

Tennessee's "certificate for driving," which identifies its holder as a non-U.S. citizen, resembles a driver's license in some ways. Printed on it is a photograph of Tseng, a Singaporean citizen studying at Vanderbilt University on a student visa.

But the card is more remarkable for a function it does not perform: Below the state flag are the words "For driving purposes only -- not valid for identification."

The...