State Study: Licensing Illegal Aliens Can Reduce Fatal Crashes

While a handful of states have indicated they’d like to give illegal immigrants driver’s licenses—and some already have—one has come up with a rather creative way to justify it; by publishing a study that says it will actually reduce fatal accidents. 

Even for California, which has a number of illegal immigrant sanctuary cities, this seems to be a bit much. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the agency that issues driver’s licenses, has published a study that makes a powerful argument for licensing illegal aliens by suggesting that allowing them to become certified drivers could reduce deadly accidents.

The state’s largest newspaper reported the rather fascinating revelation this month, attributing the info to the new DMV probe. “Unlicensed drivers in California—the vast majority of whom are illegal immigrants—are nearly three times as likely to cause a fatal crash as licensed drivers,” the piece says. Merely meeting the modest requirements necessary to get a license could improve road safety and help reduce the several thousand fatalities that occur in the state each year. Those “modest requirements” include passing a written exam and driving test.

Open borders advocates have long asserted that preventing illegal aliens from getting driver’s licenses puts everyone at risk, that it’s a public safety issue. That’s because licensed drivers must learn the rules of the roads and pass a test. This can only mean fewer accidents and highway fatalities, according to groups that advocate for the rights of those living in the U.S. illegally.

The new California DMV study, financed by taxpayers of course, backs this up solidly. It considered fatal crash data over a period of more than two decades and reviewed drivers with revoked or suspended licenses along with unlicensed drivers who were found to have the worst record. The state has about 24 million licensed drivers and approximately 2 million are estimated to be unlicensed, the study found.

Many of the unlicensed motorists say they would get licenses if they could. In fact, the news story mentions a 42-year-old illegal immigrant in Los Angeles who admits driving without a license because “she has little choice but to drive to work, pick up groceries and take her daughters to school.” The woman claims that the state must give her a license so that she can be “trusted” to “follow the law.”

Three states have already passed measures that allow illegal immigrants to become licensed drivers. Washington State and New Mexico were the first to do it and Illinois passed its law just a few weeks ago with strong bipartisan support. It is expected to give about a quarter of a million illegal aliens the chance to apply for a valid state driver’s license simply by providing a photo identification from their native country and some sort of proof that they’ve lived in Illinois for a year.