FROM OUR OCT. 2019 PRINTED EDITION:
Nick Pasquarosa
Past Commander, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 440, Newton, Mass.
Good Morning.
My name is Nick Pasquarosa,
Past Commander of the SAL, Squadron 440, in Newton, Mass.
Thank you for this opportunity to express an opinion that I
believe reflects the interest of most veterans and military personnel everywhere.
My position and our preamble encourage that I speak out on matters of concern that affect
veterans, the elderly, and our way of life.
I am here to oppose considered legislation on HB.3012 and SB.2061.
The American Legion is the largest veterans group in America and coupled with the DAV and VFW comprise close to three million veterans.
Couple that with the one million men and woman serving all over the world and in harm’s way, and this becomes a critical issue.
These veterans and military fought to protect and preserve the Constitution and the spirit and intent of the Constitution. An oath to preserve and protect.
While our military challenges our visible enemies all over the world, we are encouraging some of those same enemies to infiltrate our society, and granting of licenses to people here illegally without proper vetting compromises the very efforts of our veterans and military.
Additionally, this bill would reward those who knowingly broke the law to get here.
The current law in Section 1 states, in part:
“No license of any type may be issued to any person who does not have lawful presence in the United States.” The law goes on to state how persons can apply meeting certain requirements that are consistent with the law.
Changing the law would mean they would be getting a license even though they would still have an unlawful presence.
So what is wrong with this legislation?
There is no trust in the vetting system.
Seven veterans and their loved ones died in N.H. due to someone who should have been deported, but was never flagged for vehicle violations.
So now to grant licenses for a number of people that we know cannot be checked creates a greater opportunity for further catastrophes.
What else could happen with this legislation?
Did it occur to anyone that a license is considered validation for many things, like credit cards, state benefits, voter fraud? And does it make our roads safer? The answer is no.
How about the growing phenomenon of identity fraud. Do we exacerbate the problem by giving illegals a license? The change in the law has a greater opportunity for a downside rather than an upside.
They are here illegally and should not be granted a license. Let them apply for citizenship like all four of my grandparents did through Ellis Island, when America was steeped in pride. Immigrants had a desire to succeed, to work hard with no complaints, and no one was offended by the flag or other trivial statements or opinions.
Please defeat bills HB.3012 and SB.2061. It will make our roads safer and our veterans and military will be happy that their efforts were not in vain.
Thank you. ♦
Kathleen Lynch
Renew MA Coalition
Greetings. I am here to oppose House and Senate bills HB.3012 & SB.2061 – both bills that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
Driver’s licenses should be granted to law-abiding citizens only. By giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants who are here in defiance of our laws, our legislators themselves would be guilty of encouraging, aiding and abetting lawlessness.
This bill would strike out, in SECTION 1: Section 8 of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, the sentence, “No license of any type may be issued to any person who does not have lawful presence in the United States.” In its place, it would read: “Persons who are unable to provide proof of lawful presence, or who are ineligible for a social security number, may apply for a Massachusetts license.” All applicants need to do is provide their identity, date of birth and Massachusetts residency. Just because they show Massachusetts residency does not mean they are living here legally.
Now, we are allowing people to register to vote when applying for driver’s licenses. By simply asking illegal immigrant
applicants the question on whether they want to register to vote, they would be allowed to vote without being citizens! Voting is, and should remain, a privilege for citizens who understand what and who they are voting for.
Only ten states offer driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status. Passing these bills would encourage more and more illegal immigrants to come to Massachusetts for their driver’s
licenses. Our Registry of Motor Vehicles cannot even handle the current number of applicants.
A review of the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles was launched following the tragic, deadly crash in New Hampshire that took the lives of seven, innocent motorcycle riders and injured three more. The motorcyclists included United States Marines and their spouses. The driver responsible for the crash had a commercial license in Massachusetts despite an Operating Under the Influence (OUI) arrest a month prior in Connecticut. Not surprisingly, at the time of the crash, he tested positive for narcotics. Transportation officials say the violation should have suspended the driver’s license. His was one of tens of thousands of violations that went unprocessed.
It is very clear that Massachusetts is not ready for more driver’s license applicants, especially when they are here unlawfully in the first place! Please oppose House and Senate bills HB.3012 and SB.2061. ♦
Debby Dugan
Renew MA Coalition
Chairman Boncore and Chairman Straus and members of the Joint Committee on Transportation:
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today in opposition to S.2061 and H.3012, Acts relative to work and family mobility.
My name is Debby Dugan and I serve on the board of directors of the Renew Massachusetts
Coalition.
I am here today because I, and the Coalition, and many citizens across our great state oppose granting driver’s licenses to people in the country illegally.
One week from today, Americans will remember how our lives were forever changed when four airplanes were hijacked and the lives of 3,000 people were taken from us.
On September 11, 2001, two airplanes were flown into the World Trade Towers, collapsing them, ending the lives of thousands of everyday people as they began their workday.
Many first responders also gave their lives that day, as they charged into what looked like a war zone in lower Manhattan. Many of those whose lives were spared that day have since died from exposure to toxic chemicals and fumes.
Another plane was flown into the Pentagon. Still another plane was headed to Washington, D.C.
But brave men and women ended the hijackers’ plan of attack and died in a field in rural Pennsylvania, foiling the hijackers’ plans to attack our nation’s capital a second time that day.
According to Janice Kephart of the Center for Immigration Studies: “In total, there were 30 state-issued IDs among the 19 hijackers. The following states issued them: Florida, Virginia, California, Arizona and Maryland.”
According to Kephart: “One of the key rules in terrorist travel is to get a government-issued ID. Why? IDs are essential for appearing assimilated, which is important for mission success.” Kephart: September 4, 2012, CIS.org.
In the last 18 years since 9/11, our ID requirements have become much stricter in an effort to keep us safe from people who hate America and wish to do her harm.
On June 21st of this year, 7 motorcyclists died in a fiery crash when a pickup truck and flatbed trailer plowed into them. The victims of the wreck were members or supporters of the Marine Jar Heads – a New England motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses – and ranged in age from 42 to 62.
According to westernmassnews.com, a Fox Affiliate: “The question on everyone’s mind is how the 23-year-old suspect was able to keep his driver’s license in Massachusetts after being charged with driving under the influence in Connecticut.”
Since this horrific accident, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles have suspended the licenses of 2,400 and 900 motorists, respectively, according to the State House News Service, dated September 3, 2019.
All 3,300 suspended licenses were due to out-of-state notifications that had not been processed. If the Mass. RMV had done its job, 7 innocent people would probably be alive today. Thank you committee members for pursuing the incompetence in this state agency!
Having American identification or driver’s license of any kind is a privilege, not a right. Driver’s licenses are given to American teenagers when they show they can operate a motor vehicle safely. ID cards are issued to senior citizens who no longer drive a car.
Licenses and IDs are issued to green card holders who are on a track to citizenship.
I understand the hardship of not being able to drive a car or truck, but the undocumented people these bills hope to provide for have not respected the laws of our country and they should not be rewarded with American identification or driver’s licenses because it is a “hardship.”
There should be no reward for breaking our laws; we should not be incentivizing undocumented people to move to our commonwealth!
Of the state’s estimated 6.9 million residents, around 500,000 are non-citizens, according to Secretary of State William Galvin. Around five years ago, the Bay State’s population of unauthorized immigrants numbered about 173,000, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Clearly, illegal immigrants are already flocking to Massachusetts. We should not be changing our laws to make our state more inviting to lawbreakers.
On September 11, 2001, my son was a junior at Emerson College. He experienced one
funeral procession after another here in Boston. Michael wanted to sign up for ROTC, but his
father suggested he wait and see. Three years after graduation, he still wanted to serve in the military to protect our nation.
Michael was accepted into the Marine Corps and was on his way to becoming a pilot when he broke his hip while in Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Va.
My son is a Disabled Veteran, not because he served overseas to protect our nation, but because he was willing to go.
Ladies and gentlemen, each of us needs to do our job to protect our many freedoms. Your job as legislators is to have the foresight to put the public safety over the inconvenience some might face. I ask you not to support these bills. There is a cost to freedom and it is not free! ♦
John Thompson
Mass. Coalition for
Immigration Reform
I am a member of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform (MCIR).
I testified at the hearing of the Transportation Committee on Wednesday.This is my written submission.
I am taking this opportunity to urge members of the Joint Committee on Transportation to reject this bill (H.3012/S.2061) that would authorize driver’s licenses for illegal aliens. (Illegal alien is the term used by the U.S. Department of Justice to refer to a person who is in this country illegally.) [United States Code, Title 8, §1365(b).]
The stated purpose of this bill is to make it easier for illegal aliens to live and work in our state and implicitly to enable unscrupulous employers to hire them in order to avoid hiring Americans and legal residents. Members of the Committee would do well to consider the consequences of encouraging more illegal aliens to come to the state. In the last 10 years, Massachusetts has had the largest increase in the number of illegal aliens – and not coincidentally one of the sharpest declines in wages for unskilled workers – in the nation. Many politicians, particularly those of a progressive bent, complain about stagnating incomes, the lack of social mobility, income inequality and the decline of the middle class that now plague the country. It is hard to take this posturing seriously, since this bill would worsen every one of these problems.
Although Massachusetts law prohibits the hiring of illegal aliens, about 300,000 are in the state (up one-third from 10 years ago), taking jobs from lawful residents, driving down their wages and using social services while paying negligible taxes. Every illegal alien in Massachusetts costs the taxpayers of the state $4,500 on average and each taxpaying household pays an additional $1,500 on average due to illegal immigration.
Illegal immigration also leads to higher living costs, reduced job availability, higher crime, reduced quality of health care for residents (especially low-income residents) as well as a degradation in the environment and the quality of life for us all.
Massachusetts and its politicians pride themselves on their progressivism. Yet, data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a left-of-center think tank, show that deep-blue Massachusetts has experienced the second sharpest fall in the wages of low-income workers (the lowest paid 20% of workers) in the country.
Low-Wage Workers Have Experienced Wage Erosion in Nearly Every State
The EPI numbers also show that the states with the smallest declines were bright red–
Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The only three states where their wages actually rose were West Virginia, Mississippi and North Dakota. (I guess oil shale is good for low-income workers.)
As I remarked Wednesday, the biggest losers of our immigration-induced low-wage economy were not present in the hearing room and hardly received any recognition from the speakers. Therefore, I decided to give you four paragraphs on their behalf.
Since 9/11 this country has been trying to build a comprehensive and reliable system of identification to enable federal and state law enforcement to work together to combat crime and terrorism. This bill would deliberately undermine that system.
While most people in the country illegally are not criminals, they contribute to a serious degradation of the rule of law. Nearly all people entering the country illegally make payments to criminal gangs who operate networks of human smugglers to supply cheap workers to employers. In fact, many illegals pay for their passage by transporting drugs for these gangs. These gangs also supply fraudulent documents, a key part of the illegal labor market in which illegal immigrants operate. If (H.3012/S.2061) were enacted, illegal aliens would use more forged documents to obtain these pieces of state-sanctioned identification, thus aggravating the problems of document fraud and identity theft.
There is already a serious problem of incompetence at the DMV. Do we need to compound the problem by inviting up to 200,000 illegal aliens to present questionable documents when they apply for licenses?
Lastly, this bill would do nothing to improve road safety. Less than 5% of traffic fatalities are due to unlicensed drivers. The Transportation Committee should learn from other states (e.g., Maryland, Utah and New Mexico) that have become magnets for fraud. Tennessee and North Carolina discontinued the practice for this reason. Studies in California and New Mexico show no improvement in safety as a result of issuing licenses to illegal immigrants.
For all these reasons, MCIR urges legislators in the commonwealth to stand with American workers and against the human traffickers and sweatshop operators while showing respect for the law and law enforcement.
If members of the Committee or other legislators would like documentation to support anything in this submission, I would be pleased to oblige. ♦
Maureen Maloney
Angel Mom
Mother of Matthew Denice – Killed by An Illegal Alien with Criminal History
Thank you for having me here today. I want you all to take a look [she holds up a large photo]. This is my son Matthew. I am an Angel Mom and Vice President of Advocates for Victims of
Illegal Alien Crimes and I
oppose bills HB.3012 and SB.2061.
Let’s make a very important distinction. There’s a huge difference between an immigrant and an illegal alien. Those here on a student visa, DACA status, or green card are eligible for a driver’s license. So this bill is intended to address the issues of illegal aliens obtaining a driver’s license.
I have personally experienced the heartache that results from not enforcing our laws and putting illegal aliens ahead of American citizens and legal immigrants. My son Matthew Denice was 23 years old when he was tragically killed by an unlicensed, drunk, illegal alien who fled the scene of the collision and left my son to die on the sidewalk.
Since my son’s death, my mission has been to make the roads in Massachusetts safer, so fewer people lose their lives. Therefore, one must wonder why I
oppose the bills.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s an urban legend that licensing all illegal aliens will make the roads safer. In the seven years that I had been researching the data, I have never seen one report or any statistics that support that conclusion. In fact, in analyzing the data, one would conclude the opposite. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic fatalities have increased significantly – by double digit percentages – in the states that have issued driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
Most illegal aliens have minimal education from their native country and do not speak nor understand English, never mind read or write English, and would never be able to pass a licensing exam. How are they supposed to read the road signs that are in English? How low are we willing to lower the bar to accommodate illegal aliens in the commonwealth of Massachusetts?
Studies also show that illegal aliens have a higher rate of driving under the influence of alcohol and flee motor vehicle collisions at a higher rate than U.S. citizens. Illegal aliens, many who have criminal charges both at home and here in the U.S., flee motor vehicle incidents under fear of imprisonment or deportation, even when they have a valid driver’s license. They have a total disregard for the victims that they’ve inflicted harm or death upon.
As for the arguments that issuing driver’s licenses will increase the rate of illegal aliens with auto insurance – that’s another myth. Every person or business that registers a vehicle in Massachusetts is required to have auto insurance. Some people just choose not to continue their insurance coverage and that will continue whether they have a license or not.
Given the many issues that have plagued the Massachusetts RMV recently, adequate and vigilant record keeping by the RMV would be a stretch to say the least. Had the RMV
done their job, the seven JarHead
motorcyclists and their wives/girlfriends would still be alive.
I also fear that although it is stated that the driver’s licenses cannot be used for the purpose of voting, that there are not enough safeguards to prevent it from being abused.
Lastly, I have been to the Southern border and I have seen the illegal aliens go through TSA without definitive proof of who they are. A driver’s license is the single most important proof of identity that a person carries. Yet this Legislature is being asked to allow the issuance of a driver’s license, a document that legitimizes the presence of those in our country illegally with no definitive proof of their identity, driving record, or criminal history.
As a state, we need to enforce our current laws, not lower the bar and create new laws to accommodate those that are in our state illegally. Providing illegal aliens with a driver’s license is rewarding people for illegal actions and thus creating a magnet for criminal aliens. And there is no vetting process or background checks for illegal aliens. ♦
