Rethinking DLs for Illegals
There's some movement in Tennessee's legislature to revamp a law that lets illegal immigrants get driver's licenses. Democratic leaders in the state House are working with Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration on legislation to address changes in Tennessee driver license requirements, while Republicans are pushing bills in the state House and Senate that would require would-be drivers to produce Social Security numbers or immigration documentation to obtain a Tennessee driver’s license. The good news is Democrats - who have previously fought any attempt to bring a measure of sanity to the state's dangerous handing out of licenses to illegal immigrants without sufficient security safeguards such as reliable identity verification - appear to finally be moving a little in the right direction. And Gov. Bredesen appears open to discussing changes in the law, which was passed in the summer of 2001 and removed the requirement for Tennessee motorists to have a Social Security number.

State Rep. Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro), who sponsors the House bill increasing the requirements, says those who are illegally in the country shouldn’t be issued a driver license by the state. "This law was passed in a pre-911 world," said Rowland. "California recently repealed a similar statute."