Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Driving Solution

The Garden State may lead the way. That is, New Jersey might consider a pragmatic solution to the issue of undocumented persons taking to the state's roads and highways.

Opinion on the issue has ebbed and flowed not just in New Jersey but in other states as well. Some have suggested that undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to drive. Others believe that mixing the issue of public safety with a person's immigration status in the U.S. is poor public policy and ignores the daily reality of the undocumented population. What is certain is that undocumented immigrants are like everyone else. They use their cars to drive to work, to go to church, to shop for food, to run daily errands, to get to family activities.

Amy Gottlieb, program director of AFSC's Newark-based Immigrant Rights Program and Deborah Jacobs, executive director of New Jersey's American Civil Liberties Union recently shared their opinion on this issue in New Jersey's The Record newspaper. To read their comments visit http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/37321119.