All of this, presumably, is to crack down on illegal aliens, who, presumably, are taking advantage of the DMV's generosity and abusing our fine roadway system by flagrantly passing driving tests and becoming licensed drivers. Presumably in the face of this harassment, they'll say, "Olvidele" (forget it), and go back where they came from. On foot.
This is the whole problem with democracy: it's responsive to the will of the people. Trying to thwart illegals at the DMV is like hunting mosquitoes with a shotgun. (This characterization is in no way meant to equate illegal aliens with insects; it is just a metaphor for total inefficacy.) In addition to resulting in inconvenience for Georgia drivers, it will ensure that illegals will drive without licenses.
Why wouldn't they? They're here illegally.
And if a driver is unlicensed, there's surely no reason for him to get insurance. A friend of ours was recently rear-ended by an unlicensed Hispanic driver. Perhaps he'd have been unlicensed (and therefore uninsured) regardless of the DMV's policy, but what benefit did the government confer by guaranteeing he was uninsured?
If you really want to catch illegal aliens, the solution is so simple. There's a gas station near our house at the corner of American Industrial and West Hospital; it's called Mercado Bueno - I make this not up. Drive there between six-thirty and eleven in the morning in an unmarked white pick-up truck. Invite any men loitering outside to hop in the back. They will do so willingly. Drive them to the INS office, process them, and deport them.
I hope this does not sound racist, but that's exactly how simple it would be. The reason we don't do that, naturally, is because Hispanics are so darn useful as day-laborers. No matter what we say, we don't mind them on construction sites or yard crews. We just don't want them getting appendectomies, educations, or driver's licenses. Illegal aliens are the true proletariat. They have nothing to sell but their labor. It's almost as if - almost - government harassment like at the DMV is designed to ensure they stay that way.
I realize there is a huge cost of illegal aliens receiving government services. But there is also an economic benefit to having access to a cheap labor pool, and it is not entirely true illegals don't pay taxes. Every time they buy a Slim Jim at Mercado Bueno, they're paying sales tax. Moreover, we have to factor in the cost of enforcement - a cost paid not only in tax dollars but in inconveniences like Nancy faced scouting around for four pieces of paper to prove she hadn't slipped across the border from Guatemala. In any case, it's a sure bet we won't find a solution to the knotty issue of immigration as long as we persist in our schizophrenia: getting snippy when we see Hispanics at the free health clinic but not batting an eye to see them mowing someone's lawn.
