California DMV orders workers to overlook identity theft by illegal immigrants

(NaturalNews) As someone who was born and raised in Texas, has lived in southern California and traveled extensively in Mexico, I have developed what I consider to be a nuanced view on immigration. I speak a fair amount of Spanish and have a respect for the mostly hard-working, honest people who have come to the United States -- illegally or not -- simply seeking better lives for themselves and their families.

My attitude could hardly be considered "anti-immigration," but I have mixed feelings about the current amnesty program -- not because I am opposed to some form of amnesty legislation, but because I believe that the Obama Administration has handled the issue badly.

I also strongly believe that immigrants (illegal or not) should be required to obey the same laws and regulations that American citizens are expected to adhere to.

Sadly, and infuriatingly to many American citizens, the reality is that illegal immigrants have been given rights and privileges that ordinary people don't have, and in some cases they are free to commit crimes that they will never be punished for, but which would land you or myself in jail.

A recent Breitbart article has uncovered the fact that California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) employees (as of January 1, 2015) have been instructed to overlook previous instances of illegal immigrants committing identity theft to obtain driver licenses.

According to the article, Breitbart obtained an internal policy memo from a source within the DMV that "informs DMV investigative officers that past identity theft is acceptable when the illegally-acquired IDs were only used to obtain a driver license, and where the license or ID was not used to commit any other crime."

As the article points out, it remains unclear how the DMV will be able to determine whether or not the licenses or IDs were used to commit other crimes, but one thing is clear -- that any normal citizen would face felony charges for the same behavior. It appears to be left up to the applicant to voluntarily reveal whether the falsely obtained license or ID was used for any other purpose other than driving a vehicle or identifying themselves to an authority.

The article further notes:

The new DMV policy may be an attempt to protect illegal aliens from prosecution and conviction for a felony that could lead to their deportation, and disqualify them from President Barack Obama's new "executive amnesty" policy.

The source was quoted as saying: "My belief is that this policy came from the governor's office," adding that any other normal American citizen would not be afforded the same exemption and would be prosecuted for having committing a crime.

In my estimation, it is impossible to defend such a policy, no matter how well-intentioned it may be. It's no wonder that so many Americans are skeptical about Obama's immigration policies.

These types of exemptions for those who have entered the country illegally are a slap in the face to hard-working, tax-paying American citizens, who can hardly be blamed for opposing the recent changes in immigration law, which have been enacted unilaterally by the Obama Administration under an executive memorandum.

As I mentioned, I personally am an advocate for the rights of immigrants, legal or not, as long as they do not infringe upon the rights of ordinary law-abiding American citizens.

It sometimes seems as if illegal immigrants are given blanket immunity to commit crimes, while the rest of us are subject to ever-more-encroaching laws, such as those which forbid the collecting of rainwater, unplugging from the power grid, refusing to let our children be injected with unsafe vaccines and so on.

Let's be assured that the laws regulating our lives are fair and applied equally across the board. Is that too much to ask?

Source:

http://www.breitbart.com