Badges - New immigration law could mean 'nightmare' for motorists
- From: CarlGlas@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: badges@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:30:37 -0500
MOBILE, Alabama ? Starting Sept. 1, Alabama?s
tough new immigration law might cause
difficulties for the state?s drivers in ways that
few were aware, according to licensing officials in several counties.
Language in the law requires people to present
documents in person to prove citizenship to renew licenses and tags.
Particularly outspoken was Mobile County License
Commissioner Kim Hastie, who said, ?It?s going to be a nightmare.?
Hastie ? elected on a pledge to serve tag-renewal
customers in 10 minutes ? said her office has
made quicker service possible by conducting
business online, by mail or telephone for the
more than 450,000 tag transactions annually in Mobile County.
Hastie said some 35 percent of those transactions
are handled by means other than visits to her offices.
?It?s scaring me to death,? Hastie said Thursday,
just days after state officials notified her of the change.
?That?s just two weeks away,? she said. ?There is
no way we can notify people by then. The law
mandates that residents present documents, and
then we have to attach copies of those to their
files and save them. We have no scanners and we
have no personnel to accomplish this.
?Whoever wrote this bill put a substantial burden
on licensing agents,? she said. ?We already have
an immigration department to verify citizenship.
This puts the burden on licensing commissioners.?
In Baldwin County, Probate Judge Tim Russell
echoed the frustration, warning that his
licensing offices could be ?overwhelmed? unless a
federal judge blocks implementation of the law at
a hearing Aug. 24 in Huntsville.
?We?re going to have to make major changes,?
Russell said. ?About 20 percent of our residents
renew online or by mail. We have 252,000 tags to
renew every year, so we are looking at about 25,000 more people coming in.?
He said that workers in Foley and Fairhope
licensing offices see about 300 people daily.
With the new law, ?long lines will happen,? he said.
?Residents are not going to like it,? Russell said, ?but we have no choice.?
Russell said people will have to show a valid
drivers license, passport or Social Security
card. He expressed concern that counterfeit
documents may become a problem as those who are
in the U.S. illegally attempt to obtain them.
Many county offices have seen cutbacks in
personnel since the economic downturn.
?Alabama, here we go again, stepping backward,?
Hastie said. ?A survey showed 80 percent of
Alabama residents were for the new immigration
law, but I bet if they knew it meant they would
spend four hours sitting in a license
commissioner?s office to renew their tags with no
other option, they?d not be for it anymore.?
The Badges Law Enforcement Discussion Group - Est. 1997
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