About those licenses for the undocumented…

I went to what has become one of my favorite restaurants, to pick up a to-go dinner, and ended up chatting with the lady behind the counter. She had quite a tale to tell.

She was pulled over recently and the police discovered she had no driver’s license. She is not a legal immigrant. If Santa Ana had in place a program similar to Costa Mesa’s, she would have been deported. (That would be the program that allows police officers to look up the immigration status of those they arrest).

At any rate, the lady ended up being cited for driving without a license. She was fined $700 and has to appear in court. Miraculously, they let her keep her car, after a relative came by and picked it up.

She explained that she works until 9:30 p.m. – and doesn’t feel safe walking home (I can’t blame her for that). So she drives.

Her car is almost paid off. She would have lost a lot had it been seized.

She makes $300 a week, so the $700 fine was more than two week’s of pay. Her kids suffered the consequences of that.

She was stopped by the way for not making a complete stop at a stop sign. I can understand that one. I guess Santa Ana police are sweeping our city for people that don’t make complete stops. Read into that what you will. They ignore gang violence and taggers but harass people for minor traffic violations. Could this be a revenue raising scheme by Assistant City Manager Catherine Standiford?

The Times reported yesterday that 175 illegal immigrants were arrested in O.C. in a five day sweep. Apparently some of them were criminals.

But the lady who took my order yesterday was not a criminal. She was a hard working mom who is trying to raise a family in dire circumstances.

I used to oppose driver’s licenses for undocumented citizens – but now I am not so sure about that. There is a human side to the equation that has not been assessed or told.

Our friends on the right are fond of saying this is a Christian nation. Maybe we ought to act like it once in awhile.

About Admin

"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.