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Wertheim: Time to Rethink Driver’s License Law

By Matt Grubs, NMiF Producer

John Wertheim, one of the supporters of a New Mexico law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, said Thursday that the cascade of recent investigations suggesting widespread abuse of the law has caused him to shift his opinion.

“I think it’s a major problem for the proponents of this law,” Wertheim said on New Mexico in Focus, “and I include myself. I was a proponent.”

Wertheim, who served as chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico from 2004 to 2007, suggested a closer look at the policy response to uninsured motorists on New Mexico roads. When the law was created in 2003, many people supporting its passage cited concerns about drivers lacking proper insurance coverage and the resulting effect on both public safety and insurance rates for New Mexico drivers.

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has made repeal of the law a touchstone issue for her administration, so far unsuccessfully.

Wertheim says he isn’t in lockstep with the governor, despite his change of pace. He noted in a follow up interview that repealing the law doesn’t seem to address the underlying issue.

“What I would hope to see is somebody from the repeal side saying “We see your concern with people driving around on the roads without a license and without liability insurance. That’s a real problem and let’s meet you halfway so we can address it.” Wertheim said, “But I haven’t heard that from anyone.”

To Wertheim, the issue runs too close to an ad hoc immigration policy. Keith Gardner, Martinez’s chief of staff, said earlier this year that immigration has never been a driving force behind the governor’s call for a repeal of the law.

A review of application records by the Associated Press earlier this year showed widespread use of identical addresses by applicants using the law to obtain a driver’s license. Two recent investigations have uncovered alleged rings of driver’s license fraud stretching into Georgia and South Carolina.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2012 at 4:26 pm and is filed under New Mexico, nmif. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

One Response to “Wertheim: Time to Rethink Driver’s License Law”

  1. M. Troncoso Says:
    June 26th, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    The only reason that there are people driving around without a driver’s license is because the federal government (the executive branch) refuses to enforce federal immigration laws. They refuse to deport ALL illegal aliens. Additionally, the executive branch even goes beyond its limited powers and gives de facto amnesty to foreign nationals living here in violation of our immigration laws and your panel expressed no outrage at this dictatorial move. Incredible! So one of your panelist’s worries about people driving without a license and then using that as an excuse to justify license s for illegal aliens is pure sophistry.

    Your show this week was probably the best show I’ve ever seen for propaganda, misrepresentation of facts, omissions of pertinant truths, and just out and out lying. It was the worst show to see if one wants to be informed.

    All of the people on your show are unpatriotic, treasonous opportunists who are contributing to the gradual destruction of this country by their dishonest representation of the issues–especially the issue of illegal immigration.

    Later on the same evening that I saw your show I watched Cuentame, a family drama that is shown on channel 5.2. The show deals with a lower middle-class family in Madrid during the last years of the Franco regime. The show that evening dealt with how Spanish women at that time were reluctant to use birth control because they were so misinformed. One of the characters in the show, a journalist, wrote an informative article for a Madrid newspaper about the Pill. His article was completely rewritten by his editor so it would not cause offense. When the journalist complained, he was told by his editor that he could not print the truth because they would be censured and possible shut down. He had to write that the Pill was bad and that women should not be able to control their own fertility.

    As I watched that I thought about your show and I thought what a pity that here in the USA we basically have the same kind of censureship going on. It’s even worse because it would seem that the people on your show knowingly collude to misrepresent issues and seem to do so without one pang of shame or conscience. Your show reminds me why I generally don’t contribute money to PBS. Why should I donate money for propaganda shows?

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