Monday, December 3, 2007

Mayor Hairoo Signs Illegal Alien ID Act - Following Law Now Officially "Optional"

SF Mayor Gavin Sleazebag has signed into law the Illegal Alien ID Act in San Francisco, causing a twitter amongst that new political faction - the pro-slavery left.

From FAIR's press release...

"On Wednesday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law an ordinance that would require San Francisco to issue identification cards to the city's nearly 40,000 illegal aliens as well as other residents who do not possess California driver's licenses. The ordinance, which was modeled after a similar plan to provide municipal identification cards to illegal aliens in New Haven, Connecticut, had been approved the previous week by city lawmakers. The San Francisco ordinance will go into effect at the end of August 2008. Upon signing the legislation, the mayor stated, "San Francisco does more than most other cities in the United States for its residents, but you need to prove you are a resident and there's no easier way to do it than having one card. I don't think it's that big of a deal and I think it's inevitable in other cities." (Associated Press, November 29, 2007).

The municipal identification cards, which will cost $15 for adults and $5 for children, will be issued to applicants presenting as little as a local utility bill in his or her name. (Los Angeles Daily News, November 29, 2007). The cards will identify the carrier by name, birth date and photograph, but will not indicate the legal status of the holder or the holder's gender. (CBS News, November 21, 2007). While the ID cards will not allow illegal aliens to drive or work in the city, they will expressly permit their holders to obtain city health services, use public libraries and receive discounts at local museums. In addition, a number of banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Mutual, and US Bank, have all indicated a willingness to accept the cards as proof of identification for banking purposes. Local businesses receiving funds from the city will be required to accept the cards as valid identification and proof of local residence. (San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2007).

Immigration reform advocates argue that the San Francisco identification card program legitimizes illegal immigration. FAIR spokesman Ira Mehlman told the Los Angeles Times that the provision of identity cards can have dangerous consequences because it impedes the enforcement of federal immigration law. "Nobody says the city of San Francisco has to enforce the laws, but their minimal obligation should be not to impede the enforcement of federal immigration law," said Mehlman. (Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2007).

Even some San Francisco residents take issue with the program. Cinnamon Stillwell, a San Francisco area writer, argues the provision of municipal identification cards is hardly altruistic. Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, she described the illegal alien population as "[a] permanent underclass of laborers [that] would not exist were it not for the unaddressed social and economic problems in their countries of origin, the perpetuation of cheap labor by transnational corporations and small businesses alike, and the inability and in some cases unwillingness of the U.S. government to control the nation's borders or enforce its laws." (San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 2007). Ms. Stillwell said issuing these cards legitimizes and perpetuates the already exploitative situation in which they currently live."

...But hey, it's better than where they came from right? So said the pre-Civil War southern plantation owner, and so say today's pro-slavery left.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great work.