Or at least, that seems to be the pervasive feeling amongst Americans these days. A new poll by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute shows that an overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites don't think illegal immigrants should be allowed to apply for driver's licenses or pay in-state tuition at colleges, and they're split on whether their children should be allowed to attend our public schools.
Wisconsin residents overwhelmingly oppose allowing illegal immigrants to apply for Wisconsin driver’s licenses by a margin of 76% to 19%. On the question of allowing illegal immigrants to receive discounted tuition at the University of Wisconsin, 86% oppose the idea while only 10% support it. It is only in the area of allowing illegal immigrant children to attend local public schools that there is some serious movement. On this issue 46% of Wisconsin residents favor it, while 46% oppose it.I understand that it's an intensely complicated issue, made all the more difficult to figure out by the level of emotion often involved in the debate. From the far-right, you have accusations of job stealing, rampant criminality, and a straight-up feeling of xenophobia. From the far-left, you have calls for complete amnesty. But certainly there must be a middle ground, a place where America finds a way to improve its severely tarnished reputation as a place where anyone can come to improve their lot in life.
Will granting illegal immigrants the right to apply for driver's licenses wreak some sort of havoc on our state? I doubt it. As it stands, illegal immigrants are going to keep driving cars to get to jobs and schools, regardless of whether they have licenses or not. The vast majority of them are here because they want to work hard to make a better life for themselves and their children. And, frankly, it's hard to get a job that's within walking or biking distance from your place of residence (hey, we've just wandered into the infill vs. sprawl debate, too!). So they drive, without a license, without insurance, as a risk to themselves and everyone else on the road.
They're going to keep driving, so we really ought to have a system in place that makes it possible for them to be licensed and insured to do so. It makes everyone on the road with them safer, and shouldn't that be our ultimate goal?
It's the old "you can build a fence around the pool, but you should still teach your kids how to swim and to wear a life jacket, because no matter what, they're going to find a way to go swimming" lesson.
But then, apparently it's my generation alone that actually supports this idea. According to that same poll, "The only real support in the state for allowing illegal immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses came from young people between the ages of 18 and 24, where 64% favored the idea while only 36% opposed it. In every other major age group there was uniform opposition to the idea of allowing illegal immigrants to apply for Wisconsin driver’s licenses." (oops, looks like I'm two years over the cut-off there, but I think I still count)
Why is it that the youngest generation of voters thinks giving immigrants a chance at getting a license is just peachy? I know some of the more curmudgeonly commentators will blame "youthful ignorance and/or idealism" and write us off as inexperienced know-nothings. Frankly, I think it has more to do with the possibility that the younger generation has more experience living/working/leaning in an environment with a greater diversity of people and ideas.
Foreign language speakers don't freak us out.
The idea of what America was and is supposed to be all about is a place of improvement, of freedom, of making something better. Very few of us are real "natives" here. My ancestors came over from various European countries. Some of them probably stole land, kept slaves and forced the native peoples out. How is that not far worse than those people who come here now simply looking for work and a good education? How is it not supremely hypocritical of us now to deny basic services and rights, to build Cold War era-like fences, to send unofficial trigger-happy "minutemen" out to patrol the borders, all in an ultimately futile effort to keep those tired, poor and huddled masses out?
Maybe we're just mad that they're coming in through deserts and the Rio Grande, instead of the traditional front door, as overseen by the more postcard friendly Lady Liberty.
| Give me your tired, your poor, |
| Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, |
| The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. |
| Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: |
| I lift my lamp beside the golden door. |
Further reading:
Posts
