Now then, the good Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer floated the idea of having Illegal Aliens issued some kind of driver’s license, to which Hillary Clinton could not quite decide if she was for or against.  Now before this gets labeled as an Anti-Hillary article I must say she is rightfully divided internally about the subject.

Today the head of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff made what could be characterized a quazi-legitimate reason for wanting documentation on them. He said in so many words that New York has over a million illegal aliens roaming around and we should have an idea of where and who they are. Amazingly he did not invoke 9/11 as a justification for the licenses which at this stage of the game, over 6 years removed from 9/11, was probably the right idea.

Many on the left argue that issuing DL’s to illegal aliens or not doing so would not have impacted 9/11 at all since those involved were here on Visa’s, granted some of which had indeed expired, but the point they are making still stands that all were officially known, if not recognized. This is the pro-license crowd’s argument and factually it holds water. Along with Chertoff’s view that we should have an idea of who these people are and where they are at should the time come to intervene and end their stay here in our fare land.

The other side of the argument is simple too. Giving these people any kind of ID provides them with a legal identification which is a step to legitimizing their stay here. Again, a valid argument. They also suggest that with this in hand they may well be able to vote, as non-citizens and thus affect elections held here. That last little bit I find to be more of a non-issue so long as we make clear what ID’s are expectable for voter ID.

So for Hillary to be on the fence on the issue even for a short time is understandable as both sides make legitimate arguments for their points of view.

However, let’s add some common sense to the issue. Our Visa policy prior to 9/11 was based on the idea that we were safe from terrorism. Even in the shadow of the first WTC bombings which failed to produce the big bang Islamic Terrorist wanted, we did little to change our policy on the subject. Stricter rules have so far kept it from happening again. So far I said.

All the more reason in my opinion to keep this dangerous idea in a box on a shelf in the back of some liberals only closet in New York City. Granting any Illegal Alien any kind of official ID after they crossed the border is kind of stupid because we can assume that in order for another 9/11 to happen they [terrorist] would certainly not enter under a legal document of any kind because of the increase in security and on the issuing of Visas. However getting their hands on one might well be enough to evade arrest if given to a rookie or otherwise distracted law enforcement officer during a legitimate traffic stop.

Point is, I seriously doubt that any return engagement by Bin Laden or his disciples would take place under the same circumstances, i.e. enter legally, let Visa expire, learn to fly plane, buy ticket & kill infidels. Not that they couldn’t, but why would they?

I would like to put forth my own theory, the water theory of terrorism.  Water as we know follows the path of least resistance. I believe that terrorist would likely do the same. If entering this country through the legal means has become better regulated and more scrutinized then why would they [terrorist] bother with the possibility to getting caught early? Why try to kick in the dead bolted front door while the back screen is unlocked and wide open?

This is the equivalent of our borders today, both North and South. Using profiling techniques which are completely legitimate in this case, let’s look at who was involved in 9/11 and try to put together a reasonable way to keep us safe based on that and other pieces of information we have.

How many Canadians were involved in 9/11? None that I have seen or heard about. How many Mexicans or other Latinos were involved in 9/11? Again, none that I have seen or heard about.  So with this established we can safely say that any border enforcement is not going to be based on the vast majority of those crossing our borders right?

Good. Now if the current immigration policy is the front door with an apparent dead lock bolt on it, where do you think these people might come in at???

I’ll help you. The back screen in this case is the borders. Both North and South are crossed both legally and illegally, daily. Literally millions have crossed. According to the US Census folks, “The majority of illegal crossing take place along the Mexican-American border with others coming through Canada to a far lesser extent.” Now thinking reasonably about this, why wouldn’t we as a nation place our efforts on the Mexican border and the Canadian border to a lesser extent?

Why on earth does this always have to be bantered about as a race issue? We know more illegal aliens are entering through the southern border than the northern border. It is a fact period. Illegal Aliens have placed the burden on the southern border, not Americans. But we must react accordingly. The idea of having some ID on the Illegal is not a bad idea but it is too much like saying, “ok, you can break our laws, just drive carefully while you are here and to make sure we are going to place you through our special You Shouldn’t Even Be Here driving test”. 

Then there is the question of enforcement. If a police officer pull over an Illegal that the state has already said that they know is here because they issued the man a license should the officer be required to then process them as an illegal? Does he call ICE? Does he even issue a ticket? An Illegal can disregard our laws all day long then just go home only to return later under yet another name to get another Illegal ID card and waste all that taxpayer money while we are trying to serve name number one.

While I understand the desire to know who is here and what they are doing, the real problem is that they are here. Chertoff, Hillary, Spitzer and other in the public eye need desperately to get on the same page. We don’t need to know how to better manager the Illegals that are here nearly as much as we need to get them out of here. And we don’t need to regulate their movement behind the wheel with proper insurance nearly as much as we need to ensure that only those coming legally return.

Stop the leaking order first so the problem doesn’t get any bigger, then we can start figuring out what we are going to do with those that are here.

But what would I know; I’m just an Average American.