Police Chiefs Group Supports Driver's Licenses for Illegals [OPIN

The Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police Association has formally endorsed legislation to give standard operating licenses to illegal aliens. Have we gone totally bonkers? Imagine, an organization that represents urban police chiefs in Massachusetts is backing an effort to give driver's licenses to people who are in the country illegally.

The State House News Service quotes a statement from Association President and Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes, who says: "This bill would promote trust between law enforcement and all the communities we serve and protect."

Kyes says passage of the Work and Family Mobility Act makes sense: "In order for our state’s police officers to best do their jobs and remain safe while doing so, they need to be able to identify who’s behind the wheel. All Massachusetts families need peace of mind knowing that the drivers on our highways and city streets have passed the same driving test and know the rules of our roads."

Kyes would not say how many of the association's members voted to support the legislation but says it was the "vast majority." It seems to me that the chiefs are putting an awful lot of faith into people who violated the law to come to Massachusetts in the first place.

The idea of rewarding illegals with what we as U.S. citizens are told is a privilege and not a right also has the backing of the President of the Massachusetts Senate, Democrat Karen Spilka.

The State House News Service reports Spilka told National Public Radio affiliate WGBH in September: "I believe that for public safety reasons, even just if you look at it alone, we should pass it," Spilka said. "We have people that are driving - they're going to keep driving - that don't know the rules of the road. They have accidents. They run from them because they don't have insurance. They don't have a license. They're afraid of being deported."

The logic here seems to be that the illegals are going to continue to violate the law and then run to avoid being held responsible, so we may as well just give them a license. After all, we wouldn't want someone who is in the country illegally to have to worry about being deported. Although, if you bring them before a judge in Massachusetts, there is always a shot they will be ushered out a back door to avoid deportation.

Rewarding illegal immigrants with a Massachusetts driver's license is absurd but in a state that provides illegals with $2 billion in annual aid benefits and offers them sanctuary, I guess its just par for the course.

Maybe someday Massachusetts voters will wake up and dump these creeps who keep putting the concerns of illegal immigrants ahead of those of the taxpayers. Maybe, but I don't hold out much hope that it will happen anytime soon.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.