Progress? Virginia is Ready to Give Driving Permits to Illegal Aliens

According to the state’s DMV, Virginia will be ready to start handing out legal driving permits to illegal immigrants at the first of the year. The new rule will make Virginia the first state in the south to allow people to drive legally even when they are not in the country legally to begin with. The Washington Post reports that some 300,000 illegal aliens are expected to apply for the new permits. Requirements include being a “non-US citizen,” “reported income” or dependency in Virginia over the last 12 months, and having a clean driving record.

“A driver privilege card is not REAL ID-compliant and, as such, may not be used as identification to board a flight or enter a secure federal facility. Driver privilege card applicants are not eligible for a commercial driver’s license or identification card,” says the Virginia DMV website.

These permits are now available via a law passed by Virginia Democrats earlier this year. While immigration activists tout the cards as a way to keep illegal aliens out of unnecessary trouble with the law, critics say it only serves to normalize illegal immigration and make the community less safe.

“Giving any form of driving privileges to illegal aliens not only undermines public safety but national security as well,” said FAIR’s Matthew Tragesser. “Providing these cards incentivizes more illegal immigration, rewards law breakers, and jeopardizes our national security.”

But advocates say that the new law will contribute to society’s safety.

“It makes our families and communities safer: safer from being unfairly caught up in the criminal justice system and deportation pipeline for just trying to get to church or a child’s school and safer from being on the roads with unlicensed drivers,” says Laura Goren, research director of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis.

The primary problem with this initiative (and initiatives like it) is that it rolls out the welcome mat for people who, by their very presence in the United States, are breaking the law. One cannot have a good-faith discussion about illegal immigration without coming to terms with the fact that it is a net-negative for the United States. Therefore, instead of making illegal aliens feel more at home in this country, we should be doing everything in our power to discourage the practice. These laws do the opposite, making it ever more likely that would-be immigrants on the other side of the border will look at Virginia and say, “Hey, let’s give it a go.”

And who is going to stop them? Joe Biden?