Two major federal arrests in recent months exposed shuttles bringing South and Central American immigrants from as far away as New Jersey to state licensing centers in Knoxville, where the immigrants got certificates using fake residency papers.
In January, a third sweep revealed what prosecutors called a conspiracy in which state license examiners in Murfreesboro accepted bribes to provide illegal immigrants with driver's licenses and certificates without testing.
According to the Associated Press, the Driving certificates are stamped "not valid for identification," were meant to improve driving safety by making sure immigrants living in the state knew traffic rules.
Tennessee is one of 11 states that have not required proof of legal residence to obtain driving documents:
In early 2001, the state started issuing full driver's licenses without requiring a Social Security number, and more than 180,000 people obtained licenses. The driving certificates were created in 2004 to satisfy homeland security concerns; about 51,000 were issued.
I just don't get it. Instead of arresting and sending illegal aliens back to where they come from when they are discovered driving illegally, the liberal solution is to give them driver's licenses. With the license comes an assumed legitimacy. The same legitimacy achieved by the 9/11 hijackers, who had dozens of state IDs, used to rent cars and apartments, open bank accounts, take flying lessons and board planes.
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