Local candidates for State Senate are butting heads in response
to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto of a bill that would have
allowed illegal immigrants in California to obtain driver’s
licenses.
Local candidates for State Senate are butting heads in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto of a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants in California to obtain driver’s licenses.
Republican assembly candidate Bob Perkins praised the veto, saying the proposed bill provided “temporary relief to a continuing problem.” Assembly Simón Salinas, D-Salinas, opposed the governor’s decision, arguing that it jeopardizes public safety and threatens homeland security.
Applauding the veto, Perkins said he viewed the bill as a Band-Aid approach to a much more comprehensive illegal immigration problem that requires total reform, not just “piecemeal answers.”
“It’s not just a state problem, and the state can’t fix it alone,” he said. “It must be addressed in the federal legislation.”
Perkins said he believes the state’s illegal immigration problem should be approached from an all-encompassing, bird’s eye perspective. The bill the governor vetoed last week aimed to provide temporary relief to a continuing problem, Perkins said.
Measures that Perkins said he supports include amnesty, a guest-worker program, stricter enforcement and penalizing future illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigration is particularly relevant to the Central Coast, as the region’s agriculture depends substantially on what is believed to be a large number of illegal immigrants.
“It’s so important in this district, but it’s been ignored,” Perkins said. “This is a touchy issue because so many people don’t take the time to understand its total complexity. But if everybody put their heads together, we can figure something out that would benefit everyone.”
Perkins said his support of the veto is not meant to exclude Hispanics from participating in society. On the contrary, he said, it encourages development of a long-term solution that includes Hispanics.
“I am sympathetic to people who risked their lives to come here and enjoy our way of life,” he said. “Those people who want to remain productive members of society should be given the right to be part of our society. They need some sort of avenue of being legal in society, so they can get on the right track for a long-term future.”
The bill, SB1160, was authored by Sen. Gil Cedllio D-Los Angeles. It would have allowed as many as two million illegal immigrants in the state to pay $141 for a standard driver’s license, instead of the usual $24. The cost increase would have covered extensive background checks and fingerprints for illegal immigrants.
Also known as the Immigrant and Security Act, the bill was another incarnation of SB60, also authored by Cedillo and passed former Gov. Gray Davis in September last year.
Gov. Schwarzenegger repealed the bill in December and rejected it last week based on security and terrorism concerns, he said, as driver’s licenses commonly are used for identification at security checkpoints.
Opponents also claimed the bill would have encouraged illegal immigration and might have cast doubt on the validity of authentic California driver’s licenses.
Salinas said he is disappointed with the governor’s decision, as Salinas perceived the bill as a compromise from its predecessor.
“Now there are undocumented workers driving in our streets without being given the opportunity to take a test and get insurance for their automobiles,” Salinas said. “It’s a matter of public safety.”
Salinas said he agrees that homeland security is at the heart of the bill, but for reasons different than what Gov. Schwarzenegger cited in vetoing the bill.
“Isn’t it better to have background checks and fingerprints for the people who are here, and who will continue being here working in the fields and in hotels and restaurants, doing many jobs that many Americans don’t want to do?” he said. “I don’t know how much more secure we are not knowing who these individuals are.”
Salinas said he’s hoping next year will be a victory for illegal immigrants, with another version of the bill slated to go before state legislature. Additionally, Salinas said, he hopes the issue will receive more federal attention, as it’s been largely overlooked in the midst of the upcoming elections.
The governor’s decision to repeal SB60 last year was met with defiance from Hispanics statewide, who participated in a day-long, statewide economic boycott Dec. 12. Thousands of Hispanic-owned businesses remained dark Dec. 12, with many Hispanics refusing to go to work, send their children to school or spend money.
Edward P. Sanchez, director emeritus of Gilroy Citizenship/Educational Programs with the Gilroy Family Resource Center, said the veto also came as a disappointment to him. Since last week, Sanchez said about 20 people have come to him concerned how the governor’s decision will affect them.
“The people we deal with are farm workers. They’re not fortunate enough to have jobs in town or within walking distance,” Sanchez said. “That is a great, great burden placed on many of them who have to get to work. People come in and ask, ‘What can we do?’ And the sad thing is, nothing really can be done from this end. We have to abide by the law.”
Sanchez said the governor’s decision creates a dangerous situation for workers who can’t find rides to work or whose work places are outside local bus routes.
“Ninety percent of them would be in a position to buy insurance,” he said. “The great majority of them are law-abiding people.”
