NY Judge Rejects DMV Practice on Licenses (for illegals)
By MICHAEL GORMLEY AP Writer
May 11, 2005

The state Department of Motor Vehicles may not deny driver's licenses to immigrants who cannot prove they are in the United State legally, a judge has ruled.

The DMV has mailed letters to about 600,000 people statewide whose Social Security numbers could not be verified. About 252,000 haven't responded and would have been subject to license revocation. The state has 11.5 million licensed drivers.

Tuesday's ruling came in a lawsuit filed on behalf of five immigrants by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

"Plaintiffs have faced and will continue to face serious injuries if these practices continue," state Supreme Court Justice Karen Smith wrote.

DMV Commissioner Raymond Martinez said the state will appeal. He said the agency imposed the restriction in 2002 to make sure drivers "are who they say they are." About 7,000 licenses were seized in the first months after the measure was put in place.

"New York state is fighting fraud and protecting New Yorkers from terrorism and other criminal acts," Martinez said. "Verifying a person's Social Security number is a common-sense and proven way to fulfill that important responsibility."
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Where is there ANY point of ANY Homeland Security and the BILLIONS upon BILLIONS, we spend for it every year, if we "have no legal recourse", but to issue drivers licenses to all "illegals"?

Simply letting the DMV "do their thing", and verify citizenship, would be tremendiously helpfull to stop "illegals".
BUT NO, we need to collect more mega dollars in taxes every year to fund Homeland Security, and create TONS of new special investigators (paid very, very well), in multiple duplicate type agencies, to try and "trace, and keep tabs" of any possible terrorists AFTER WE ISSUE THEM LEGAL LICENESES. We, legal citizens, have to even give up our CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS for them to be able to do that job", while at the very same time, we are doing nothing but the utmost to PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS!!

THIS IS UTTER AND PURE NON-SENSE TO ME !

As I recall, Joel Giambra used "Homeland Security" funds to get his SUV vehicles? (monogramed special edition I believe) Getz not only had, and used a new SUV for his personal use, but also had a "backup" Ford Explorer.

Please, tell me, in what way, did Giambra or Getz, having an "extra", "new SUV" to use, make us any safer whatsoever? How did it "brace" us from terrorism, in any way whatsoever?

What was he going to do with it? Ram the terrorist with it? Run them over? Sit outside the location of the "lackawana five" and monitor them?

The only thing, I repeat, the ONLY thing the H.S. funds did, was give Giambra and Getz another "personal" use vehicle to (ab)use for their "personal" use - shopping, driving to and from home,etc.

I DON'T care if it really was county funds or federal funds used to get these vehicles. Either way, it STILL came out of our pockets. Both the county funds and federal funds are GONE. Yet our security is in NO WAY BETTER OFF than we were 3-4 years ago.

Waste, waste, and more idiotic waste!!

That's one of the main reasons why were so broke,... and STILL so insecure.

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B.E.N. 10/6/2004
"The number of Homeland Security vehicles has risen as the federal government makes more money available to local governments to brace for terrorism. Bartholomew has assigned a Homeland Security vehicle to Victor Getz, County Executive Joel A. Giambra's driver and senior aide, reasoning that Getz, while not an emergency official, is on call 24 hours a day. He also says Getz's Ford Explorer is a backup to the vehicle used to drive Giambra. "

Few of the take-home cars bear the Erie County seal, so they escape notice by residents. One consumer magazine puts the cost at running a car in Buffalo at $8,300 a year.
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