news-record.com
North Carolina examiners should not aggressively investigate illegal immigrants who might be seeking fraudulent driver's licenses, a top state executive suggested in a memo nearly two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In fact, Wayne Hurder, who supervises the state's driver-license section for the state Division of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh, sent an e-mail message in August 2003 criticizing some of his DMV officials for being too aggressive with immigrants who presented identification and other documents that examiners thought suspicious.
"As I stated for the last nine years, the fact that a person is in the United States without the permission of the Department of Homeland Security (formerly INS) is irrelevant as far as North Carolina DMV is concerned," Hurder said in the message to six other DMV officials, including several regional chief examiners.
"If local law enforcement wants to make an issue of their legal status, that obviously is their right and responsibility depending on the statutes under which they operate," Hurder said. "But let me make it clear -- for the umpteenth time -- North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 20 does not involve itself with a person's legal status in determining their eligibility to apply for a license."
Posted by Suzanne at January 26, 2005