Good for Mexico but not for US

Fire of Liberty
After watching the whole debate and political fallout from Governor Spitzer's silly plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, I find this article pretty interesting. According to Chris Hawley of the Arizona Republic, the Mexican government is very strict with regards to immigrants and will only issue a driver's license to legal residents of Mexico. Here's a look:

Yet, licensing offices in all of Mexico's 31 states, along with the Federal District, where Mexico City is located, said they require applicants to prove their citizenship, preferably by showing a federal voter-registration card issued by the Federal Elections Institute.

Of those, 28 states and the Federal District said they would issue licenses to foreigners only if they present valid FM-2 or FM-3 residency visas.

The central Mexican states of Morelos, Puebla and Guerrero are more lenient. Foreigners there can get a driver's license with a valid tourist visa, or FMT.

Tourist visas are issued by federal immigration agents at airports and border crossing points.

Foreign tourists who are in Mexico temporarily can also drive using their foreign licenses, states said. Most U.S. states, including Arizona, have a similar exemption for temporary visitors.

Mexican officials said the application rules are strictly enforced, especially in southern states that have a problem with illegal immigrants from Central America.

"Last week a man came here (with a tourist visa) and said he was working as a deliveryman," said Denia Gurgua, manager of the driver's license office in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of the southern state of Chiapas.

She said she denied him a license because he did not have a visa to work in Mexico.

"Our constitution has certain restrictions for foreigners," she said.

I just hope more Americans become aware of this fact and remind their Congressman, Senators, and the folks running for President that we should have the ability to restrict the entry and regulate such individuals who are visiting or are here illegally. From the looks of CNN's recent debate, the Democrats still seem to be stuck on Spitzer's talking points. The issue over illegal immigrants won't be the deciding factor in 2008 but it'll be an important issue.