REALID Act and Its Effect on Permanent Residents

[IndoKiddo]

I do not know much about this REALID act. But from what I read it definitely effects immigrants a lot. So I thought I should start this thread to discuss about possible difficulties/problems we face because of REALID Act.

Is the effect on GC holders same as non-immigrants trying to immigrate ? What should we do to avoid any serious problems ?

[pralay]

Originally Posted by IndoKiddo

I do not know much about this REALID act. But from what I read it definitely effects immigrants a lot. So I thought I should start this thread to discuss about possible difficulties/problems we face because of REALID Act.

Is the effect on GC holders same as non-immigrants trying to immigrate ? What should we do to avoid any serious problems ?

It affects all aliens, including people who are not alien but looks like alien (green skin, bald head with two antennas, big eyes).

[maple_cartier]

REAL ID act is meant to essentially prevent driving licenses from being issued to illegal aliens or more appropriately the 'undocumented workers'

By the way, calling an illegal alien an 'illegal alien' is nothing wrong...I mean, tomorrow a smart lawyer can call a thief something like 'unauthorized collector of money'....that does not change anything right? So, why bother with all this PC name crap anyways?

[pralay]

Originally Posted by maple_cartier

REAL ID act is meant to essentially prevent driving licenses from being issued to illegal aliens or more appropriately the 'undocumented workers'

But it's already proven that just preventing illegal aliens from getting drivers license does not result in less illegal aliens. If that was working, then California which does not allow drivers license to illegal aliens would be the state with least illegal immigration. But in reality it's not. It just causes too many people to drive without drivers license. People will go where there is demand - either legal immigrants or illegal immigrants. Surprisingly this act does not address the issue of those corporates (e.g. Walmart) which allows/employ illegal immigrants. On the other hand, those 9/11 terrorists already had valid California drivers license. It defeats the very purpose of having Real Id. It's big waste of money. Only victim of this real Id act will be all the legal people here (citizens, legal immigrants) - in term of hassle in everyday life and obviously tax dollars.

Originally Posted by maple_cartier

By the way, calling an illegal alien an 'illegal alien' is nothing wrong...I mean, tomorrow a smart lawyer can call a thief something like 'unauthorized collector of money'....that does not change anything right? So, why bother with all this PC name crap anyways?

Who is complaining? Those kind of bumper stricker labeling does not address the real issue.

[ocworker]

what is the real impact to the legal immigrants who need driver license ??

[pralay]

Originally Posted by ocworker

what is the real impact to the legal immigrants who need driver license ??

How many months CA DMV took to issue your first DL card with photo? 2 months? 3 months? Then you can expect more delay.

[ocworker]

Originally Posted by pralay

How many months CA DMV took to issue your first DL card with photo? 2 months? 3 months? Then you can expect more delay.

besides of delay, would the green card holders have problems (besides of not passing the written / road test) to get DL?

[wik]

Something I have not seen mentioned here, or in any of the newspaper articles I've read, is the impact on people WITH driving licenses. With several million undocumented people in California alone, if those people cannot get Driving Licenses then they can also not get Insurance. And that means million of uninsured drivers on the road, pushing up our car insurance rates. Additionally, it means if we are hit by someone without a license or insurance (and I know several people who have been in this situation), then YOUR insurance company has to pay up and YOU take the hit on your premium. It is a counterintuitive piece of proposed legislation as it will make the roads less safe and shift the financial burden to legitimate drivers who are citizens or LPRs. This legislation is reactionary and short-sighted. I wish states would decouple officially approved Federal identification from the stupid Drivers License so everyone could be tested properly, allowed to drive and obtain insurance, and develop some other means of identification that would be acceptable for flying. The legislation should stop trying to disguise the idea of a national ID card system in the form of a State driving license. If the intent is to form a commonly accepted, protected form of national ID, then just go ahead and do that, like they do in several European and other countries. <sigh>

[pralay]

Originally Posted by wik

Something I have not seen mentioned here, or in any of the newspaper articles I've read, is the impact on people WITH driving licenses. With several million undocumented people in California alone, if those people cannot get Driving Licenses then they can also not get Insurance. And that means million of uninsured drivers on the road, pushing up our car insurance rates. Additionally, it means if we are hit by someone without a license or insurance (and I know several people who have been in this situation), then YOUR insurance company has to pay up and YOU take the hit on your premium.

Yes, it's a real problem - espcially in Southern California. There are too many drivers without license (and many of them are illegal immigrants). Most of us pay premium for "uninsured motorist" in our auto insurance. Now, if there are too many accidents involving uninsured motorists in certain area (where your own insurance has pay for your own car, even though it was not your fault), that part of premium goes up for that area residents. So indirect way, this law effects people's wallets.