Subject: Highline Times Feb. 25, 2011 article "Bill would cut DOL wait times," featuring Rep. Dave Upthegrove

No reflection on Rep. Upthegrove but legislating the current problems at the DOL by offloading the work to other non-governmental entities does nothing to solve the problem of issuing licenses to the wave of people who should not be entitled to drive in our state, namely illegal immigrants.

This phenomenon, according to an article via The Everett Clinic, Aug. 13, 2010, entitled "More immigrants getting driver's licenses in Washington," by Tim Korte and Manuel Valdes of the Associated Press, did not point to legal immigrants, but rather illegal immigrants, primarily those seeking sanctuary from Arizona's new laws to curb illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, because those states do not require proof of citizenship, only residency. And according to an Associated Press analysis, they found that those states have seen a surge in immigrants seeking ID's in recent months for the same reason, i.e., exiting Arizona.

Contributing to the problem, the article also noted..."Washington state and New Mexico have been magnet states for the fraudulent document brokers, human traffickers and alien smugglers for years," said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, a nonprofit research group in Washington D.C.

Further the A.P. analysis of data in the three states revealed some striking numbers-the rate of licenses issued to immigrants during the 10 weeks that followed approval of the Arizona law reflected a 60 percent increase over the annual average for last year.

In Washington state, alone, the rate of increase indicated..."Washington granted 3,200 licenses to people from outside the U.S. through the first six months of this year, exceeding the pace of 5,992 for all of 2009."

And if you have been to the DOL in recent months this pace does not seem to have diminished.

Rep. Tom Campbell (R) sponsored an unsuccessful bill last year in the Washington Legislature seeking to require proof of citizenship to get a license, saying, "We don't think we're asking for much." Oddly, 47 other states seem to agree with him. However, Democrats in our state thwarted the legislation and nothing has been done.

This issue will not be solved by legislators who want to sweep the problem under the rug, rather than recognizing the root cause of the problem. Driving in our state should be limited to legal residents, not those who thwart our laws to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Fred Novota
Burien