AUGUSTA – Republican legislative leaders Sen. Kevin Raye and Rep. Josh Tardy expressed thanks today to Governor John Baldacci for vetoing a bill that would have resumed Maine’s former practice of awarding driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. The measure, LD 1357, landed on the governor’s desk yesterday after passing both the House and Senate on mostly party line votes. The Senate later upheld the veto.

“Governor Baldacci deserves our thanks and gratitude for standing firm on license security,” said Sen. Raye (R-Washington), leader of the Senate Republicans. “It was just last year that we fought a major battle over this issue. Against fierce opposition from the majority party, we were able to tighten our licensing requirements to make sure illegal immigrants could not obtain these crucial documents. It would have been unconscionable to retreat from that policy.

“In the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, we learned that the 19 hijackers had more than 60 valid licenses between them,” he added. “Eight of them were actually registered to vote. In light of those shocking revelations, states with lenient licensing policies clamped down to safeguard this credential.”

Rep. Tardy, leader of the House Republicans, said the governor deserves great credit for vetoing a bill that was strongly favored by his own party. “I was astounded by the audacity of this move,” said Rep. Tardy (R-Newport). “The people of Maine and citizens in general don’t want driver’s licenses in the hands of illegal aliens. This effort by the Democrats would have posed a national security threat and exposed Maine to higher levels of illegal immigration, fraud, identity theft and other crimes.

“Not all illegal aliens represent a threat to American citizens, but many of them do,” said Rep. Tardy, an attorney. “We know there is a huge and growing problem with violent alien drug gangs spreading across the country. The last thing we’d want to do would be to encourage them to come here and stay here, equipped with valid licenses.”

Maine’s licensing problems came to a head last year, when the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Maine licenses had been so badly compromised that they would no longer be acceptable ID for boarding flights and entering federal buildings. For years, Maine had handed out licenses to illegal aliens and people who didn’t even live in Maine.

As other states tightened license requirements, Maine became the state of choice for illegal immigrants who needed documentation. Vanloads of illegals routinely traveled to Maine from New York and elsewhere, often recruited by ads in foreign language newspapers. At Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) offices, they gave fake home addresses, including cruise ships, the State House and even the BMV offices where they filled out the paperwork. With BMV staffers barred from asking about immigration status, the applicants left with licenses good for six years.

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