A Cumberland County skirmish over driving permits for undocumented immigrants seems designed mostly to stoke a regional Assembly race.
State legislation for such a license program is pending, so a debate that's simmering in Cumberland County hasn't been fully conjured up out of partisan politics. But the issue is being framed as fodder in a competitive First District state legislative race. Rhetoric and code for anti-immigrant sentiment are overpowering careful consideration of the benefits and pitfalls of so-called driving privilege cards.
It started when the Democrat-majority Cumberland County freeholder board chose Aug. 25 to pass a resolution supporting one of the Trenton bills - even though county residents seem deeply divided. The resolution, with no binding effect in Trenton or anywhere else, was OK'd 4-1. The lone "no" vote was Republican Freeholder Jim Sauro - who happens to be one of the two GOP First District Assembly candidates.
Sauro's minority viewpoint on the board was loud and clear. Apparently, it wasn't loud enough. Last week, Sauro and his Assembly running mate, GOP incumbent Sam Fiocchi, announced an online petition to get the freeholder board to withdraw support for the license program. They plan to present the petition at the Sept. 22 freeholder meeting. It ought to be a real barn-burner, with little more than a month before the Assembly election.
In April, after the Bridgeton City Council affirmed support for driving privilege cards, the South Jersey Times backed them, too - as long as the cards can be distinguished from actual New Jersey driver's licenses. The need for undocumented drivers to be trained, registered and identified formed the main reason for our support. But we understand that undocumented and unlicensed drivers have taken a human toll on Cumberland County highways, and that driving privilege cards can be seen as rewarding such dual illegality.
It would be much better if Congress finally adopted a rational plan on undocumented immigrants, giving states a reliable test for granting licenses to those willing to walk a path to legal residency - and denying driving permission to those who wish to stay in the shadows.
But, it's important to realize that there will be no action of any kind before the Nov. 3, 2015, election. The New Jersey bills are still stuck in committees. No way Congress is going to act on anything by then.
By the way, the incumbent First District Democrat running for the Assembly, Bob Andrzejczak, agrees with the Republican candidates: He opposes the immigrant licenses.
So, if there's any political advantage to be gained from ill-timed, non-binding resolutions and contrary petition drives, it may be to collect misleading quotes for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of October commercials. If you hear "amnesty" or "immigrant-baiting" in any ad, tune it out.
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