HispanicVista Columnists
The Driver's License Brouhaha
By Richard N.
Baldwin T.
During the week of 6 Dec, the world was treated to a bit of rebellion in the
US congress concerning the passing of the "9/11" security bill. Two
lawmakers had stopped the whole process. One wanting more power left for the
pentagon in intelligence matters, and the other wanting federal control of
driver's license issuance by the states. The latter was taken by many as a
purely racist request as it was directed at "illegal" immigrants (read
Mexican). These two members were persuaded to come on board and the bill was
sent to President Bush for signing into law, finally.
This is not the first time this issue has come up, and it won't be the
last. But in fairness, let's look at how each country (México and the US)
treats immigrants on this issue.
First we must remember that the driver's license identification for the
privilege of driving a car or truck. And the main real reason is control for
who drives and the safety of all on the road. It was never intended as a
general national identification card, but by default, in both countries, is
has become so. In México, there are federal guidelines to the states for
this. One of these rules is that the recipient must prove the legal right to
be in México. The immigrant can, for a limited time, drive on a US license,
but to get a Mexican license, he must prove the legal right to be in México.
Presenting the Mexican FM-2 or FM-3 document issued by the federal
immigration department does this. Mexicans, of course, can present a federal
voters card, passport, birth certificate or other Mexican documents to prove
his Mexican citizenship. But for the US citizen, the immigration document is
a must.
In addition for the US citizen, these documents are necessary for the
following: To open a bank account in his name, to purchase property in his
name, to apply for a credit card, to be employed, to participate in medical
care programs and so on. Otherwise, you are limited to the "informal" sector
without any of these privileges. And, as in the US, by default, the driver's
license is the universal identification card. So, in reality, the Mexican
government is in no position to complain about discriminatory treatment of
its citizens regarding issuance of driver's licenses in the US. I should
also point out that there is no requirement for a nation wide federal
identification card in either country.
You will note that I mentioned the "informal" non-taxpaying sector,
which in México accounts for more than a third of our national economy. It
is great mass of humanity that exists on the outer fringes of the law and
without most of the benefits that the government offers to its citizens. I
am on record in asking our government to do everything possible to
incorporate these people into the "main stream" of México. As it is, this
sector contributes little to the overall national economy and consists of a
marginal population easy to abuse.
But, wait a minute! Don't we have the same situation in the US? In that
case, we have over 10 million people existing on the fringe of society just
like our "informals" here. In both cases, we have national governments
putting off the necessary reforms to bring these people into the mainstream.
They both keep putting off needed changes that only get more difficult as
these populations on the fringe keep getting larger.
In the US, there is an obvious need for immigrant workers to do many
jobs and hold down labor costs in positions that are difficult to fill any
other way. Like it or not, these people contribute, in a big way, to the US
economy.
México lacks the ability to create enough national decent paying jobs
for its young in the first place. This requires real attention by the
Mexican government. But in the US, there should be a revival of an honest
guest worker program. Putting these people in an orderly legal status would
satisfy all of the security issues in one fell swoop. That is, if that is
what the brouhaha is really all about.
You will note that I call for an "honest" program. We have learned by
sad experience that the Mexican government cannot be trusted to act as an
agent for any retirement benefits for the workers. They simply steal these
funds. My father in law was one of those from the 1940s. He died a few years
back without collecting anything from his Mexican "account". Better to make
a new program within the US Social Security system, which is at least
honest.
But the bottom line here is to put this system on an economic basis
(along with security) and strip it of racism. In other words, let's make
business and get down to reality, in both governments.
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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/)
contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at:
R1041643422@aol.com