Nov 15, 2007 12:43 am US/Eastern
Clinton Says No To Licenses For Illegals
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday came out against granting
driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, after weeks of pressure in the
presidential race to take a position on a now-failed ID plan from her
home state governor.
Clinton has faced criticism from candidates in both parties for her
noncommittal answers on New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's attempt to allow
illegal immigrants in his state to receive driver's licenses. Spitzer
abandoned the effort Wednesday.
"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his
proposal," Clinton said in a statement. "As president, I will not
support driver's licenses for undocumented people and will press for
comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues
around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our
broken system."
Clinton stumbled when asked about the issue during a Democratic
debate two weeks ago, and her new position comes the day before another
debate where opponents are expected to raise the issue again.
Rival campaigns made clear they were not letting go of the issue.
"When it takes two weeks and six different positions to answer one
question on immigration, it's easier to understand why the Clinton
campaign would rather plant their questions than answer them," said
Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton, referring to the Clinton campaign's
admission that aides had staged a question for her at an Iowa event.
Colleen Flanagan, a spokesman for Chris Dodd, called Clinton's
position "flip-flopping cubed. She was for it before she was against
it, before she was for it, before she was against it."
Spitzer met with New York lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday, and
conceded that there was too much public opposition to his plan. Clinton
did not attend the meeting.
"It does not take a stethoscope to hear the pulse of New Yorkers on this topic," he said.
The Democratic governor introduced the plan two months ago with the
goal of increased security, safer roads and an opportunity to bring
immigrants "out of the shadows." Opponents charged the scheme would
make it easier for would-be terrorists to get identification, and make
the country less safe.
The decision is another example of the roadblocks high-profile
immigration reforms have faced this year. Less than five months ago,
Congress failed to pass legislation that would legalize as many as 12
million unlawful immigrants and fortify the border with Mexico.
"The federal government has lost control of its borders... and now has no solution to deal with it," Spitzer said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Spitzer's
reversal on the license issue "a good development" and said immigration
is a federal issue for which his department has to "ramp up
enforcement."
"What I want to make sure is that states aren't working at cross
purposes with us and enabling the kind of conduct we're enforcing
against," Chertoff told The Associated Press by telephone from London.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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