Gov. seeks ban on licenses for illegal immigrants

Gov. Matt Blunt unleashed his latest proposal Monday in a flurry of legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

The proposed law, Blunt said at a news conference held at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, would specifically prohibit illegal aliens from obtaining driver's licenses, penalize those who are here illegally and punish those who help illegals obtain licenses.

The state already has safeguards intended to prevent illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses, but Missouri lacks a specific law prohibiting it, Blunt said.

The penalties are still open for discussion, but Blunt suggested making the first offense a class B misdemeanor for someone who knowingly aids an illegal immigrant fraudently in obtaining a driver's license.

"It has to be strong enough to serve as a deterrent," Blunt said. The charges would then escalate with every repeat offense, he said.

Blunt said the proposal was spurred by the recent action of New York's governor in sponsoring a plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

"That doesn't make sense in Missouri," he said.

Driver's licenses are issued in Missouri by the Department of Revenue through scores of contractor-run offices around the state.

People who are not U.S. citizens currently can get Missouri driver's licenses by showing a federal form validating their lawful presence. Their status also is checked through a federal database, department spokesman David Griffith said.

Under a change made in 2005, those temporary licenses last only until the expiration of that person's approval to be in the United States, Griffith said. Previously, noncitizens could receive Missouri driver's licenses with standard expiration dates, meaning their licenses could have remained valid after their approval to be here had ended, he said.

Earlier this year, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but he eventually withdrew that plan.

Oren Shur, a spokesman for Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon's gubernatorial campaign, said Blunt's proposal doesn't offer anything new.

"Giving licenses to illegal immigrants is already against the law in Missouri," Shur said. "The Blunt administration issues all the driver's licenses in the state, so if they have been giving licenses to illegal immigrants, then the governor has some explaining to do."

Nixon also opposes giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

The proposed legislation is the latest in a series of plans in Blunt's battle against illegal immigration, which began in late August.

Already, Blunt has asked state law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of every person presented for incarceration. He said Monday that officers so far have turned 110 illegal immigrants over to federal authorities for detention.

Blunt also is pushing for state law enforcement officers to become deputized so they can enforce federal immigration law. He cited recent discussions between the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Office in Chicago, the Department of Homeland Security, and support from U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in assisting in the ongoing process. It should be completed soon, he said.

Blunt also has asked for tighter oversight of state-financed construction projects to ensure contractors who get state incentives don't use illegal immigrants.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 245