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Title: Incoming New Mexico governor vows to revoke licenses issued to illegal aliens
Source:
Immigration Reform Examiner
URL Source: http://www.examiner.com/immigration ... enses-issued-to-illegal-aliens
Published: Nov 16, 2010
Author: Dave Gibson
Post Date: 2010-11-16 09:10:21 by HAPPY2BME-4UM
Keywords: None
Views: 91
Comments: 5
When New Mexico Governor-elect Susana Martinez takes office in a few weeks, one of her first priorities is to revoke the thousands of drivers’ licenses which have been issued by her state to illegal aliens in recent years. In the wake of Arizona’s passage of SB1070, illegal aliens have been flocking to the states of New Mexico as the state does not currently require proof of citizenship to obtain a license. Under open-borders advocate, Gov. Bill Richardson, New Mexico went even further and passed a law banning DMV clerks from asking an applicant if they are in the country legally. The policy has made New Mexico a favorite with human smugglers and those who make their living from selling fraudulent documents. A recent AP study examined data from the New Mexico DMV 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. In a recent CNN interview, Gov. Martinez said: “My focus has been on removing the driver's licenses and revoking those that have already been issued.” She continued: “I don't support amnesty… there has to be some other way of dealing with the issue. It may be we identify individuals but we cannot just have a path to citizenship created when there are people in line already doing the proper things.” Martinez is a former Democrat and district attorney who is a favorite with Tea Party supporters.
Incoming New Mexico governor vows to revoke licenses issued to illegal aliens
New Mexico Gov.-elect Susana Martinez
Photo: CNN
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#1. To: All (#0)
N.M. Driver's Licenses a Global Attraction
#5. To: HAPPY2BME-4UM (#1)
Where I live you have to prove you're a U.S. citizen to get a job. There are no wetbacks here. None, not a one.
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November 12, 1010
By Astrid Galvan
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
People from all over the country — make that the world — are traveling to New Mexico not just for its tourist attractions or green chile. They are also coming for driver's licenses.
Police have arrested a growing number of suspected undocumented immigrants who have traveled from as far as China to fraudulently obtain New Mexico licenses.
They are drawn by a 2003 law that makes New Mexico one of only three states that does not require proof of citizenship or legal residency.
Take Shu Sheng Lui, who told a State Police officer arresting her Wednesday that she had flown to Albuquerque from Missouri and paid a man $500 to help her get a New Mexico driver's license.
Lui, 33, along with Hiew Fongyee,31, and Lam Fong Siu,44, were arrested at the Motor Vehicle Division office on 1625 Rio Bravo SW on Wednesday after they tried getting licenses with forged residency documents, according to criminal complaints.
The Chinese nationals had paid 22-year-old Gordon Leong to get them forged documents showing they live in New Mexico so they could obtain driver's licenses, the complaints state.
Leong was arrested and charged with conspiracy, a fourth degree felony. Lui faces the same charge. Fongyee and Siu, who both live in New York, were charged with one count of altered, forged or fictitious license.
"I think it shows that we have a good process in place that is meant to detect any fraud or anyone trying to get a license without proper documentation," MVD spokesman S.U. Mahesh said of the arrests.
Mahesh said it's common for different types of people to try to get fraudulent driver's licenses, citing examples of teenagers looking for fake ID's to purchase alcohol and people whose licenses have been suspended.
But police have arrested a growing number of suspected undocumented immigrants who traveled here to get New Mexico licenses, often paying thousands of dollars for help obtaining forged or fake proof of residency such as utility or home rental bills.
New Mexicans have generally opposed the state's driver's license law, according to a Journal Poll that found that 67 percent of residents are against it.
Both gubernatorial candidates said they would work to repeal the law, but Gov.-elect Susana Martinez took it a step further by saying she would also work to revoke the licenses that were issued under the law.
"The recent stories of those who are here illegally and those who pay or use fake documents to obtain a driver's license in New Mexico highlight the problems with this law," Martinez spokesman Danny Diaz wrote in an e-mail to the Journal. "Governor-elect Martinez believes we must work to repeal the current law that allows illegal immigrants to receive licenses. In addition, she believes we must also revoke the licenses that have been issued."
Some recent cases:
• On Oct. 19, State Police arrested two Chinese nationals accused of being part of an illegal driver's license scheme at an MVD office in Santa Fe. Police told the Journal that Shunxian Feng, 33, flew in from China for the sole purpose of getting a driver's license.
Workers at MVD became suspicious after seeing Feng with Shu Juan Liu, whom workers had noticed at MVD several times. Shu Juan Liu fled, but Feng and Yue Xian Liu, 50, were arrested and charged with conspiracy and forging a fictitious license.
• In September, police arrested a Costa Rican national for his suspected role in helping four illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses at the MVD on 4575 San Mateo NE in Albuquerque. Adolfo J. Mora-Granados, 23, is accused of using fake lease agreements to get the immigrants licenses. He was charged with four counts of conspiracy and six counts of forgery.
• Also that month, police arrested a Brazilian man who allegedly tried getting two other Brazilians licenses in Albuquerque. Police said Christian Sobral was paid $3,000 to fly in the Brazilians and help them get licenses. He was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony.
• In July, a 32-year-old Illinois man was arrested after helping two undocumented Polish immigrants who live in Illinois get licenses in Albuquerque.
Police allege that Jaroslaw Kowalczyk charged the immigrants $1,000 each to drive them to New Mexico and get them forged documents.
Mahesh said getting a driver's license isn't as easy as some might think. License applications go through the Tax Fraud Investigations Division, which reviews documents to make sure they're real and legal.
"People have this misconception that people can just walk in and get a license," he said. "Anyone that's trying to get a fraudulent license should be warned it won't be that easy."
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