Illegal immigrants are angry because Maryland denies driver's licenses to illegal aliens

S.A. Miller:

An immigration rights group says the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is violating state law by denying driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

"The MVA has absolutely no right to ask for people's Social Security number or immigration status to get a driver's license," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland Inc., a nonprofit advocacy group for Hispanic immigrants that has staged protests at MVA offices.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan said the agency requires documentation -- including a Social Security number -- to verify a person's identity, not the person's immigration status. He said the check is performed in accordance with state and federal laws.

"No one is targeted," Mr. Flanagan said. "We have evaluated the law very carefully, and we have a duty to make sure when someone applies for a driver's license that their identity is ascertained correctly."

The group has demonstrated in front of the MVA office in Beltsville and issued a list of demands, including an end to the so-called immigration screenings and increased hiring of bilingual MVA workers to serve customers who do not speak English.

Similar protests were conducted in other states last week by other immigration rights groups to promote policies such as giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

Still, drivers waiting to get licenses yesterday at the MVA office in Annapolis supported a check of Social Security numbers and immigration papers.

"You shouldn't have a problem with it if you have nothing to hide," said Loretta L. Brenner, a 30-year-old homemaker from Deale who was getting a duplicate driver's license.

But, of course, illegal immigrants do have something to hide - the fact that they are not supposed to be in the country in the first place!