With debate intensifying over Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s partial retreat from his plan to offer NY state driver’s licenses to “undocumented Americans,” I couldn’t help but notice who’s involved in some of the protests (see image). For quotes (although not necessarily from the group in the photo), see here. Obviously, my sympathy is somewhat dulled by the fact that I can hardly take a piss in Korea without a valid foreigner registration number — which, BTW, might be a good thing.
Driver’s Licences for Illegal Immigrants?
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting, but perhaps silly debate. I met a Czech guy in the US several years ago who had managed to both overstay his visa and obtain an Arizona driver’s license, sans address. He then also managed to become gainfully employed at a landscaping company.
‘I couldn’t help but notice who’s involved in some of the protests (see image).’
what are you trying to say here? are you saying korean immigrants can’t protest in america if you can’t take a piss in korea?
on a different note, according to the dept of homeland security, there are 250,000 illegal korean immigrants here in the us. that’s a problem we should deal with… after we take care of eleven million.
btw, just so you know, those illegal koreans should be sent back to korea. people need to come here legally. simple as that.
Pawi,
While I’d never debate the right of a lawfully-immigrated Korean to protest in a Western country, you can’t help but note the irony when it’s a condition of some of our visas here that we don’t take part in political activities nor highlight Korea in a negative light.
I outstayed my visa in the U.S and kept working without any problems. I wanted to go on a jaunt to Baha, and unsure of my status (i had been told there was a grace period after the visa I was on expired) I simply asked the border guards if i was ok to get back in. They told me I wasn’t even supposed to be there in the first place. I thanked them hastily and walked off.
I ended up staying for another 6 months working as a deckhand and was due to fly out a few days after september 11. You can imagine the delays and security procedures i had to go through, but in the end i went through without anyone even checking my passport. My neighbours were 11 illegal mexicans crammed into a one-room apartment, worked all the shitty jobs in the local area, they were some of the nicest people i ever met. At the bar they never failed to buy me a drink when i went in, despite their 4-dollar an hour wage. California runs on these guys. By comparison it seemed that every second legit californian was out to rip me off.
To me it seems the height of hypocrasy to want to limit illegal immigrants rights but be quite happy to benefit from their cheap labour.
no, I believe what Robert said was:
Yep, sure enough. You even quoted it. So that’s what he said. Right there in writing. Funny thing this fangled “writing” stuff. You can write something and it’s there for everyone to see. No dispute. No need to question it even… Unless you are “presumptuous”…
Brilliant! Nicely put bbq captain.
Spitzer is a douche of all douches in Democrats. I’m not sure, but I think he has a long history of benefiting off of lawsuit awards as well.
This guy is the worst person possible to be a governor. I think he privately called a Republican elder rival a “senile fuck head” or something like that. AND, didn’t apologize!
His policies are outrageously liberal. John Liu, that guy should go eat some shit.
Liu is also outrageously liberal.
This is a breach of security and encouragement of illegal immigration. Bottom line.
Look, it might make the roads safer to have illegal immigrants drive with a license and car insurance, but hey, do you really think these people will make proper payments and those policies to kick in effect when accidents happen?
Look, these illegal Joes haul ass. Tipping? They don’t take tip in some of those hole in the wall restaurants, yet offer good food and restaurant like service. Everyone should work as hard as these people.
But, they broke the law, and they shouldn’t enjoy all the privileges of a legal Joe. That’s basically it. Ride the bus. Huddle up in big cities. Suburbs? Forget it. That’s whiteman’s land. Didn’t you know that already?
Hoju, you’re right on. California runs on these illegal workers. A ton of things will become more expensive when they can’t work no more.
The evil is ultimately the liberals.
They ask for tip, health insurance, disability insurance, “liviable wage”, minimum wage, public aid, handouts, you name it.
Fine. Then everything has to be more expensive.
Oh, No! That’s not America.
Everyone cheats on their taxes legally or illegally. Not enough. Let’s raise the minimum wage. What? Inflation, dumbass!
These damn lawyers should at least be required to understand economics to make laws.
Only Bush makes sense to me. Temporary, renewable work permits.
Realistic.
Democrats have this snake eating its own tail kind of vision towards everything. Everything.
More handouts, more taxes, people don’t want to pay, people are poorer, even more handouts, even more taxes, etc.
Prior to Ronald Reagan, I heard an undocumented claim that a person could be taxed up to 75% of his earnings, if he didn’t bother to consult with his CPA on how to legally cheat on his taxes.
Why do people hate the tax code?
Because it’s a headache to try to find a legal way to pay less.
No one wants to pay. Everyone wants benefits. Unsustainable. Bottom line.
“This guy is the worst person possible to be a governor. I think he privately called a Republican elder rival a “senile fuck head” or something like that. AND, didn’t apologize !”
In a private phone call to a different Republican, the Democratic governor supposedly called the Senate Majority Leader “an old, senile piece of s—.”
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07082007/news/regionalnews/curse_hurts__bruno_regionalnews_fredric_u__dicker__________state_editor.htm
But it is hard to work up wjk’s outrage when the Vice President does not better in public:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html
‘yep, sure enough. You even quoted it. So that’s what he said. Right there in writing. Funny thing this fangled “writing” stuff. You can write something and it’s there for everyone to see. No dispute. No need to question it even… Unless you are “presumptuous”…’ capt smart
‘Pawi, while I’d never debate the right of a lawfully-immigrated Korean to protest in a Western country, you can’t help but note the irony when it’s a condition of some of our visas here that we don’t take part in political activities nor highlight Korea in a negative light.’ aronm
Ain’t it interesting that one expat understood exactly what I was saying while another pretended he didn’t? Man, captbbq, you aren’t too bright, are ya? Contruct a better retort next time, eh?
#5 hoju:
“My neighbours were 11 illegal mexicans…they were some of the nicest people i ever met…..by comparison it seemed that every second legit californian was out to rip me off..”
(Earlier in the same post)”…I outstayed my visa in the U.S and kept working without any problems. I wanted to go on a jaunt to Baha, and unsure of my status (i had been told there was a grace period after the visa I was on expired) I simply asked the border guards if i was ok to get back in. They told me I wasn’t even supposed to be there in the first place. I thanked them hastily and walked off.”
I don’t understand — at all. You had a chance to cross the border, escaping from rip-off Californians into a land full of nice Mexicans — and you walked away?
From #10 pawi:
“….man, captbbq, you aren’t too bright, are ya? con[s]truct a better retort next time, eh?”
How about “In a land of blind pawi’s, the one-eyed captbbq is King?”
Ok, maybe not “best”, but surely it meets the standard of
“better” — eh?
No overt hypocrisy. Businesses oppose crackdowns and any attempts to require verification of social security numbers. Save for a few like myself who actually buy nearly everything we eat from local farmers and almost never eat out, most Americans benefit tremendously from cheap, illegal labor in the fields and slaughterhouses. Many of the chain restaurants in my town staff their kitchens with unauthorized workers. I read somewhere that we pay about 11% of our income on food compared to 18% for France or Italy. If you are in America, look around you and see the consequences of our cheap food supply.
Oops, that’s hypocrisy.
Pawi,
Oh I understand what you said. And so did Aaronm when he responded. He addressed the issue you brought up, while I addressed the fact that the issue you brought up was accusatory and in effect putting words in someone else’s mouth.
The problem is you don’t understand what Robert, myself, or anyone else for that matter, says. Instead you like to inflate what other people say with whatever stereotypical meaning you expect them to have.
You are presumptuous; a bigot; the mirror image of exactly what you hate. You are a clown that makes me laugh.
It’s a deal. But I’d like to ask that you understand the basic framework of the legal system, or at least some of the facts available to you, before denouncing lawyers.
“Legally cheat on his taxes” means take benefits available to him under the law.
I wonder why it is that you persist in reliance upon rumor from dubious sources to draw your conclusions about law. All of it is, of course, available for you to read directly. There are lawyers making $15 an hour — ask one of them. Or go to the bookstore and buy a Nolo Press book.
‘You are presumptuous; a bigot; the mirror image of exactly what you hate.’ capt bbq
wow, you’re pretty insightful; but not insightful enough.
‘You are a clown that makes me laugh.’ capt bbq
that’s a lie. you know it and i know it.
thanks for the info, Mr. Carr.
I can’t believe you showed me a way not to use the services of a lawyer !
I’d probably use one anyway, though. If I needed one.
Lawyers probably hate that guy.
The thing is, that seems to be the favorite quip of attendings during down time. Especially so in OB-gyne. That’s where I get all my unconfirmeds.
“”I don’t think it is a privilege any more than buying a MetroCard is a privilege,” Spitzer said on New York 1 News of his three-tiered license plan. “When we walk down into the subway system to buy a MetroCard, no one says, ‘Prove you are a citizen’; no one says, ‘Where did you grow up?’”"
A driver’s license isn’t a privilege? Does that mean that divers’ licenses can’t be suspended anymore? I’m sure that there’s an awful lot of alcoholics who would be happy to hear that.
Besides, just because some people have been able to cheat the system doesn’t mean that restrictions should be removed. You would think that the logical solution would to make it harder for illegals to get drivers’ licenses.
“While I’d never debate the right of a lawfully-immigrated Korean to protest in a Western country, you can’t help but note the irony when it’s a condition of some of our visas here that we don’t take part in political activities nor highlight Korea in a negative light.”
Good point. I’ve got an F visa, so I guess I’m permitted to protest. But, I wonder what would happen if started challenging the status quo in the streets? Could I be deported or thrown in jail for pointing out that this country risks going hell in a hand basket thanks its government and the ‘chaebols’ who control it? Probably not, but I wouldn’t doubt my friends and employer will be harassed until they distance themselves from me.
“Good point. I’ve got an F visa, so I guess I’m permitted to protest. But, I wonder what would happen if started challenging the status quo in the streets? Could I be deported or thrown in jail for pointing out that this country risks going hell in a hand basket thanks its government and the ‘chaebols’ who control it?”
I was thinking much the same thing the other day. My guess is that those of us with F visas who got into trouble would get to go to jail, instead of being deported as likely would have been the case with an E visa. Cool, eh?
(American) lawyers, believe it or not, usually prefer an informed client to an ignorant one. The authors of the Nolo Press series of how-to books on law are all lawyers.
Let me give you a tip why: There are a million books in the library on how to fix your toilet. Usually, though, when you have a substantially blocked-up toilet, instead of a mild stoppage, you’ll call a plumber because it’s beyond your capabilities. The books help you recognize when that’s the case.
That’s what I’m trying to do with Korea Law Blog — provide access to information about Korean legal topics and inform the body of prospective clients.
#21,
Good idea.
Saves you time to do more productive work, saves them money, and puts your name out there for those who really need your help.
250,000….sounds likes a perfect start. Baby steps, for learning purposes. Plus, they’ll be deported to a relatively successful country that ought to be able to take care of its own – hasn’t the US taken in enough of your tossed away children. Enough of the free ride, welfare queens. Has the US got some backbone?
LOL, I’ve time traveled to 2007.
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