Friday - February 24, 2006

Rocky Top

All I got to say about this is: ”IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME”. This farce has been going on long enough. Hell, every Mess-can in the world knows about this and they have all been flocking to the Volunteer State with all kinds of scams to get these “certificates”. What can you expect though from the state that gave us Al Gore?

Tennessee Halts Immigrant Driving Certificates
February 24, 2006, 1:37 PM EST

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)

Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants Friday after investigations found they were being shuttled from other states, using fake residency papers and sometimes bribing state workers to get the cards. Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely said the program was being suspended while authorities reassess it “to ensure we’re doing what’s best for Tennesseans.”

“This program was a good idea in theory, but there have been issues with implementation,” Nicely said. The certificates, which are stamped “not valid for identification,” were meant to improve driving safety by making sure immigrants living in the state knew traffic rules. Recent federal investigations found that illegal immigrants were traveling hundreds of miles to get the certificates illegally.

Non-citizens who can prove they are in the country legally will still be allowed to get the certificates. Tennessee is among 11 U.S. states that have not required proof of legal residence to obtain driving documents. In early 2001, the state started issuing full driver’s licenses without requiring a Social Security number, and more than 180,000 people obtained licenses. The driving certificates were created in 2004 to satisfy homeland security concerns; about 51,000 were issued.

Applicants are now required to provide two documents, such as a utility bill or lease, to show they live in Tennessee, along with a Social Security number or a sworn affidavit if there is none. They also must pass an eye exam, a driving rules test and a road test.

Two major federal arrests in recent months exposed shuttles bringing South and Central American immigrants from as far away as New Jersey to state licensing centers in Knoxville, where the immigrants got certificates using fake residency papers.

In January, a third sweep revealed what prosecutors called a conspiracy in which state license examiners in Murfreesboro accepted bribes to provide illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses and certificates without testing.

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/24/2006 at 01:52 PM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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