Zach Patton is a GOVERNING senior editor. He writes about a range of topics, including education, social policy issues, and urban planning and design. Patton is also the editor of GOVERNING's Management e-newsletter.
E-mail: zpatton@governing.comIllegals in Jersey with Plates from PA
Are you an illegal immigrant? Do you live in a state with a complicated drivers license process, making it harder for you to get a license?
Then make a run for the border! No, not that border. Just the nearest state line:
Stymied by New Jersey's tough motor vehicle laws, [illegal immigrants] have traveled to states with more lax regulations to obtain the paperwork they need to get behind the wheel.
It's a tactic thousands have used, making the streets of many of New Jersey's immigrant neighborhoods look like a South Jersey Turnpike rest stop. Besides Pennsylvania, license plates from Maryland, North Carolina and Michigan abound.
No matter your opinion on illegal immigration, this does seem to be a thorny problem. And even though the REAL ID law is extremely controversial and kind of impossible to implement, issues like this do make you wonder whether we ought to have a standard process for obtaining a license.
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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