In the wake of Arizona’s passage of SB1070, illegal aliens have been flocking to the states of New Mexico, Utah and Washington, as evidenced by the number of driver’s licenses being issued to them in each of those states. Incredibly, none of three states require proof of citizenship to obtain a license.
New Mexico has gone even further and has a law banning DMV clerks from asking an applicant if they are in the country legally.
Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License, told the Associated Press: “Washington state and New Mexico have been magnet states for the fraudulent document brokers, human traffickers and alien smugglers for years.”
A recent AP study examined data from the respective DMVs of the three states and found a surge in licenses issued to immigrants (both legal and illegal). In fact, there was an increase of 60 percent over those from the previous year, during a 10-week period following the passage of Arizona’s new immigration law.
The number of licenses issued to citizens during that same period, did not increase.
The following results were taken directly from the study:
“— New Mexico issued 10,257 licenses to immigrants through the first six months of 2010, compared with 13,481 for all of 2009. The pace has intensified since April, when neighboring Arizona passed its immigration law. The figures include both illegal immigrants and legal residents from outside the U.S.
— New Mexico issued about 417 licenses a week to immigrants from the day after Arizona passed its law through July 1. That is a big jump from the 323 per week it was issuing from Jan. 1 to the day before the law passed.
— Utah handed out 41,000 illegal immigrant licenses for 2010 through June 7, compared with 43,429 for all of 2008.
— Washington granted 3,200 licenses to people from outside the U.S. through June, exceeding the pace of 5,992 for all of 2009.”
Republican legislators in both New Mexico and Washington have been trying to pass laws requiring an applicant to provide proof of either citizenship or legal immigration status. However, Democrats in both states have blocked their efforts, and the legal citizens continue to suffer.
With their policies, New Mexico, Utah and Washington are now sanctuary states.