Here We Go with the Drivers License Issue Again.....

Ok, so we all know that this happens everywhere... people need to survive and you do what you gotta do right?

I know that some may think that i sound totally horrible and supportive of "illegal activities" (well, i am an "illegal" so make your judgment). However, i always go back to the "put yourself in my shoes" phrase. Seriously, think about it- if you had to survive and feed your family, you had to cash a check. I mean, just imagine the basic things like paying with a check and having to give your drivers license number. Think about wanting to travel within the states to see a family member who is sick and for that you need to use an ID. Just getting by because you have a family to support... wouldn't you do whatever you could to provide under the best circumstances?

These are the basic things that we, the "ILLEGALS" need to do. We would come to spend many dollars just like the people did in the article below if it would get us something to get around. We would be taken advantage of and not denounce those that took advantage of us. We always take risks and move on with life.... not because we want to, but because we have to.

If you only knew.....

*****
April 10, 2008, 7:23PM
Company ordered to stop selling licenses to immigrants

By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — The state has halted a Houston business from selling fake driver's licenses to immigrants that Attorney General Greg Abbott said gives "a false appearance of legitimacy on those who are in the United States illegally."

Abbott said 129th District Judge Grant Dorfman had issued a restraining order against Centro de Identificaciones and its owners: Guillermo R. Robles and Hernan C. Trujillo. Abbott said the driver's license sales violated the Texas Deceptive Trades Practices Act.

Each of the licenses sold for $225, Abbott said. He promised to obtain restitution for anyone harmed by the sales.

But Abbott declined to say whether his office would ask about the legal resident status of anyone applying for the restitution or whether his office would report anyone in the country illegally to federal immigration authorities.

"That's a different legal issue," Abbott said.

Abbott said not everyone who bought a license may be an illegal immigrant, but he said the marketing targeted a Hispanic market.

Texas does not issue driver's licenses to individuals who cannot document their legal resident status.

Abbott said people who bought the licenses were led to believe they were an international license that would allow them to drive in the United States and buy and sell vehicles.

"These so-called international driver's licenses are not worth the paper they are written on," Abbott said.

Abbott said federal law allows only the American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliances to sell international driver's licenses to U.S. citizens who will be traveling in foreign counties that participate in an international treaty.

The licenses may not be issued to foreign nationals. He said international driver's licenses for non-U.S. citizens must be obtained from their home country.

Besides restitution, Abbott is seeking $20,000 in penalties for each violation of Texas law and attorney's fees. He also is requesting civil penalties of up to $250,000 for any licenses that were sold to individuals 65 or older.