Should illegal immigrants be allowed to get driver's licenses?

Topic of the research paper

The context of this thesis rests on the understanding that driver's license is an instrument for safety and not for implementing immigration laws. Safety of a person driving on the road is rather important then illegal immigration. Providing the illegal immigrants with driving license will make it easier for the government authorities to keep track of these aliens and their activities as well. Licensing provides enhanced information about a person; it'll help keep bad drivers off the roads. However, since illegal immigrants cannot be tested and verified for their ability to perform in American society in any way, it would be a risk to the lives and safety of other Americans on the roads. The research will be conducted by making use of extensive primary and secondary study.

Thesis Statement

Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to obtain driver's licenses because they have not been verified for their adequacy for American society. Hence it is a major risk to grant illegal immigrants driving licenses.

Introduction

There are a total of 11.6 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, with a large population living in the state of California. An estimated 8.8 million unauthorized immigrants come from the North America region which includes Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. The next leading region of origin is Asia with an estimated of 1.2 million immigrants, followed by about 850,000 immigrants from South America.

Mexico has become the leading source of unauthorized immigration to the United States with an increase from 4.7 million in 2000 to 7.0 million in 2008. According to Rivera-Batiz, Latinos, specifically Mexicans, continue to migrate to the United States in large numbers and it is projected that by the year 2030, Latinos will total more than 73 million. They will constitute 20.1% of the U.S. population, and this will make them the fastest growing ethnic group.

Allowing illegal Mexican immigrants to obtain driver's licenses would make it easier for them to drive their children to school as well as arrive at their jobs. Schwarzenegger said he repealed the law because of safety concerns but said he would entertain new legislation that focused on national security. One safety measure proposed would be to complete more extensive background checks and more stringent documentation. In late August 2004 both the state assembly and the senate voted to pass the illegal immigrant driver license bill. Governor Schwarzenegger immediately vetoed the bill due to his concerns for national security (Scott 3).

 Issuance of driver's license to illegal immigrants in the United States is one of the most discussed topics in recent years. There are a number of states that are in favor of issuing driver's license to immigrants that have illegal status in the country, while others are against this privilege. Those in favor claims that although these immigrants adopt illegitimate means to enter and stay in the country, but once they are here they should be treated equally on social grounds. Others suggest that these ...