The Austin-American Statesman published an interesting article this week about an important bill that will affect the majority of Texas adults. While many pro-immigrant outlets have been worried about the Sanctuary Cities bill (ourselves included), this bill may actually have a much more widespread effect.
The bill, which mostly addresses the budget issues for Texas schools, also includes a measure that requires DPS workers to verify U.S. citizen or legal resident status of applicants for Texas drivers licenses. Although DPS can ask this information now, this bill, which as soon as Governor Rick Perry signs will become law, will require it.
One of the partners here at Peek & Toland had this to say about it.
”By again making a driver’s license more about citizenship than a persons capacity to be able to operate a vehicle, you are making criminals out of people who are otherwise in every way capable of driving. In a time where everyone needs to drive to get around, especially in Texas (where none of the major cities have effective mass transit due to our urban sprawl), this law tells them they can’t drive for the sole reason that they weren’t born here, and don’t have a current legal immigration status. This in turn will cause auto insurance companies to not want to cover people without driver’s licenses which effectively means they are putting more uninsured people on the road. Is the desire to identify people illegally here is more pressing and important than those people having car insurance? These immigrants are already here in the millions, They can’t stop driving, working, or going to the store just because you pass this law, so it effectively ignores the effect of creating millions of uninsured drivers. These people would gladly pay, and pay extra at that, in order to be able to have a license and insurance. Further more it naively assumes that DPS workers will not profile. The article states the employees will have to ask for citizenship and MAY ask for proof. How many white people do you think will be asked for proof? Sure all will be asked if they are citizens, but what color do you think the ones who will be asked to prove it?
Bad legislation, by myopic legislators focused on the symptoms and not the problem and pass poorly thought out laws without consideration on the social implications, bigotry, stereotypes and how those who are not caucasion get affected by such short sighted lawmaking. Texas is a worse place to drive now because of this law, that is a fact. And Texas is not any safer as no amount of administrative barriers will stop illegal immigration.
However, administratively, DPS had already been applying this as a practice, so it already had been enacted in that sense, even though it was not law. And one bad by-product of their police was they were denying licenses to people who were legally here on visas. Now at least people legally here on short term visas can get a driver’s license. Still a bad law, though.
It will be interesting to see what kinds of effects we will see in the community once this bill becomes law. Whatever happens, these quick-fix laws are not really helping to solve the serious immigration issues in our country.
