Iowa Court: no licenses for illegals

[benfranklin]

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the state does not have to issue driver licenses to illegal, undocumented aliens. Ruling

I have not studied this issue, but it has always baffled me that some people argue that illegal aliens have a right to a driver's license. If someone has a green card or a temporary work permit, sure, a driver's license makes sense. If they are tourists, the license from their home country works here, I believe, or there may be an international license of some kind.

But many people talk about illegal aliens having a right to a driver's license (that's what this suit was about).

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a district judge dismissed the suit, agreeing with the state's contention that illegal aliens have no right to receive driver's licenses

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That brings up two basic issues in my mind. One, it is a well established principle of law in this country that a driver's license is a privilege, not a right. Two, how can anyone claim that an illegal alien has the same rights under US law that a citizen has, let alone claim that the alien has rights beyond those granted to citizens? Why not take it a step further and claim the right to vote? (Not to throw gas on the liberal-conservative fires, but many conservatives charge that liberals espouse driver licenses for aliens as a step toward enfranchisement, since immigrants are more likely to vote Deomcratic.)

Off topic: I used to live in Iowa, and knew some people at a telecom firm called Iowa Network Services. The company vans had the logo on the side, featuring a large "INS". The drivers would often notice "foreign-looking" folks do a double take at the sight of the vans, and move quickly in the other direction.