I was reading an article on the Texas Tribune that talked about a bill that is trying to be passed, which would allow undocumented people to have a driver’s license. The bill allows undocumented residents to get a driver’s license after getting a background check and paying 150 dollars in fees. I think this bill is a great idea because there will not be any more excuses for hit and run accidents. Many of the people that flee when they are involved in a car accident are people that do not have a license or do not have insurance; if this bill is passed it will also allow undocumented people to obtain car insurance and they will be able to register their car under their own name. It makes the information exchange process harder when you get into and accident with someone that doesn’t have a license and/or insurance because you don’t know if they are telling you the truth regarding their information, so with this new bill it would abolish that issue.
This bill gives undocumented people a peace of mind because they will no longer fear of getting a ticket for driving uninsured or driving without a license. This new bill will help reduce the crime because you are going to be able to identify the person. It will reduce the number of unreported accidents. Texas is not the only state that has proposed a bill like this one; Illinois, New Mexico, Washington, and Utah are other states that have passed bill allowing undocumented people to obtain driver’s license too.
If this bill is passed there is still going to be undocumented people without a license because they fear they will get deported once the state has all of their information. Many of the people that are undocumented are people with low resources that cannot afford to pay 150 dollars to obtain their license, which I don’t understand the reason for such a high price.
This bill should be passed because it would help a lot of undocumented people, and it would stimulate Texas economy, but I think it needs some modification regarding the cost because not a lot of people can afford to pay that amount of money. This bill is beneficial to both the undocumented person and the state of Texas.
4 comments:
Driving Contradiction
You picked a great topic, Vanessa! Having been a victim of a hit and run accident myself I completely agree with you that the state of Texas needs to take action to fight this huge problem. You make a good point when you say that by allowing undocumented people to receive a driver’s permit they would then be able to purchase insurance which could prevent a lot of hit and runs in the future. The idea in itself might work out in theory, but realistically speaking HB 3206 would really be against the law.
First of all, illegal immigrants are “illegal” so they shouldn’t even be in this country in the first place. Why is it against the law for immigrants to live here without any papers but at the same time it is ok for them to be literally rewarded with a driver’s license? This just does not make any sense whatsoever!
Furthermore, the price is an issue, too. The driver’s permit costs $150. Undocumented people obviously do not have a visa or a work permit so most of the time they have to settle on underpaid jobs with which they can barely make ends meet. If they can’t even afford their rent or food for their entire family, how are they going to afford a $150 driver’s permit let alone insurance? In all honesty, they are still going to keep driving without a license and without insurance which will not take care of the hit and run issue.
It is apparent that something needs to be done to prevent hit and run accidents from happening which are mainly caused by undocumented drivers. However, giving them a driver’s license won’t solve the problem. I really think that the state of Texas and the federal government should focus more on tightening its borders as well as on preventing immigrants to enter the country illegally. I agree with Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo who noted that the HB 3206 proposal is “primarily an immigration situation” which needs to be taken care of on the immigration level.
I read Vanessa's blog post called No More Excuses,and I must say I disagree with about every point. Her blog is about "undocumented" individuals obtaining driver licenses. I looked up the term "undocumented" individual so we could all be clear. It says the following:
"The term undocumented immigrant refers to foreign nationals who are present in the United States without proper authorization. The more common and accurate term for these individuals is illegal alien. Without proper authorization from the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), foreign nationals cannot enter the United States to work, establish residency or even visit."
I am aware that a Bill has been proposed and 3 states are already issuing driver licenses to illegal immigrants. But, Seriously? Does this not go against our entire immigration policy? Are we going to next revamp our entire system to accommodate "undocumented" people? I hope that any policy changes are to the benefit of the people that live here legally. So her blog goes on to say that this will put an end to people having an excuse for being the one to run in a hit and run accident. There are many excuses used for hit and runs. No driver license is just one of them. Next she talks about a driver license being a guarantee that a person will maintain vehicle insurance and registration. I believe not. Nor do I believe it would give anyone on either side of the debate peace of mind. People no longer emailing and texting while driving would give me more peace of mind personally. I was taught that having a license was not a right of passage but a privilege to be had if you were a responsible enough to have it. We had to go to driving school we had to pay for it. Vanessa says the 150 dollar fee is to expensive for these people to pay. I have one last question. If you cannot afford the 150 dollar fee, how can you expect to afford that car insurance the license is supposed to guarantee?
I read an article in the Huffington Post that said the "undocumented" people want their license to look exactly the same as everyone else's and have no distinguishing marks on it. Well, if you want the exact same thing, go become a citizen to obtain same rights and privileges.
Vanessa, while you do make some good points about both hit and run accidents and stimulating the economy, I have to disagree about what needs to happen with this bill. Simply put, undocumented immigrants do not deserve peace of mind. They are not here legally. If they are here with a visa or making an attempt to legally become a citizen, then I agree that we should help them. However, we should not be helping those who aren't willing to go through our legal process to be American.
Your point about insurance helping hit and run accidents is great and in some cases, I do believe it would help. However, the illegal aliens that are here because they can't afford to do things the right way probably aren't going to be the ones who get car insurance. Again, they are committing a crime by being here and that should not be rewarded with the privileges of American tax payers lives.
Your point about feeding the economy is valid though, depending on how many people would actually participate in the program. That $150 is funneled straight into the government which comes back to us. As a state, Texas is doing rather well compared to others such as California, but more would never hurt. I like that you spoke your opinion and though we differ in that sense, you do make points that helps everyone see both sides of the issue.
Dear Let Me Speak!,
I enjoyed reading your article titled, "No More Excuses!" and highly respect your point of view on this controversial issue. With that being said, I have a slightly different point of view.
While I do agree that everyone should have the right to obtain proper identification in this state, I do not agree with allowing illegal aliens to obtain such licensing. My main issue with this new law you are writing about, is that we are reinforcing illegal behavior. Yes, in one hand it will help everyone because they can be identified more easily. On the other hand, they are here illegally.
Instead of passing a new law to license the undocumented illegal aliens, Texas should be reforming our immigration laws. My entire point is that IF they had come to our state/ country LEGALLY, they would not have an issue getting documented.
I am an advocate for human rights, and definitely see where this new law could benefit Texans. I agree with your comments that it will help in situations of car accidents and insurance needs. My question to that though would be, why should we allow an illegal alien to have a valid driver's license and automobile insurance? I guess I can see the point is that they will drive anyways, so why not just allow them to drive legally.
I also completely disagree that this will help our Texas economy. These undocumented people do NOT pay taxes, own homes, use financing and pay interest, and so forth. These are the things that stimulate the economy. If we pass this law, we are basically saying that coming here illegally is OKAY, and there's no need to do it the right way.
In conclusion, I have to say this is a very poor solution to our immigration problem. Yes, there are a few benefits to this new law, but overall there are more negative attributes. Before we begin to enable illegal behavior, we need to find easier solutions for undocumented aliens to become citizens.
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