October 20, 2007

Richard Clarke endorses Spitzer license scheme; opposed DLs for illegal aliens in June

Richard Clarke - former counterterrorism adviser to Bill Clinton and George Bush - has endorsed Elliot Spitzer's scheme to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, saying:

States should act to register immigrants, legal and illegal, who use our roadways as New York is doing... From a law enforcement and security perspective, it is far preferable for the state to know who is living in it and driving on its roads . . . than to have large numbers of people living in our cities whose identity is totally unknown to the government.

Just one problem: back on June 1 of this year, he wrote a New York Times editorial called "A Back Door for Terrorists" (link):

...The Real ID Act of 2005, which among other things established standards for state-issued driver's licenses and non-driver's identification cards, has now been put off until at least 2009. And many states are in open revolt against its tough requirements for issuing driver's licenses... The result is that potential terrorists here illegally can easily use phony licenses or, in many states, get real ones issued to them, along with credit cards and all of the other papers needed to blend into our society. (The only places in this country that seem to check the validity of drivers' licenses are bars in college neighborhoods.) Indeed, those arrested for allegedly planning to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey included illegal immigrants who apparently had little difficulty getting along in this country.

Asked to explain himself, Clarke said it was because New York's licensing requirements are tough. I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with him seeking some sort of political or financial gain.

Posted to Immigration_dls at October 20, 2007 01:26 PM