Seen in the AJC:
Genao used to sell about 15 vehicles a week, mostly Ford F-150 or Silverado pickups to a Mexican clientele. Now he sells only two or three.[...]
Genao is feeling the fallout from a new state law, effective July 1, that requires a valid Georgia driver’s license or ID card to register a car in Georgia.
The law is cutting deep into traffic for many auto dealers and tag and title services catering to the state’s growing immigrant community. Illegal immigrants can’t get driver’s licenses because to do so, they must prove they’re in the country legally.
The law also has the potential to cut into sales taxes and county ad valorem tax revenues, though metro area counties say it’s too early to measure that effect.
I can accept the idea that in order for a registration to be valid, there needs to be documentation as to who’s actually registering the vehicle. And I certainly don’t condone breaking the law to enter the country illegally, even if our national immigration policy is absurdly stringent.
However, some advocates for undocumented immigrants have made an argument that such folks are already here and are contributing members of our society, even if they are here illegally.
Stories like this make me wonder about the unintended consequences of other measures taken to marginalize undocumented immigrants.