Online and in line, license tags in Jefferson County (AL) mean trouble

[trof]

Source: The Birmingham News



Lines for license tag renewals snaked around Linn Park in downtown Birmingham and caused traffic problems in Bessemer Friday as an already short-staffed Jefferson County revenue department began coping with new requirements from the state's immigration law.

The five-hour wait in Jefferson County's line may have been particularly acute, but lines reportedly were long across the state.

A portion of the new Alabama immigration law that U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn allowed to go into effect this week requires revenue clerks to take the extra step of verifying that the car owners are legal residents of the United States before issuing or renewing a vehicle tag. The law's going into effect this week combined with several other factors to cause a perfect storm.

Read more: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/10/online_and_in_line_license_tag.html

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I don't know whether this comes under the heading of "Unintended Consequences" or

"DAMN the TORPEDOS! Full speed a:nuke:KA-BOOM!:nuke:

On second thought it just comes under the heading DUMB.
:-(

[ixion]

1. yep, DUMB is right

:(

[bluedigger]

2. It's a twofer.

Regulates the illegals, and proves government doesn't work. Perfect legislation.

[cstanleytech]

3. If by government you mean the idiots in office who passed the law then ya, it doesnt work.

[Downwinder]

4. Do you need a picture ID to vote if you have a license plate?

[trof]

5. Great question!

:rofl:

[Aaria]

9. License plate and vehicle registration please.

[drm604]

6. People are going to start rebelling against this nonsense.

So now, on top of requiring people to jump through hoops in order to vote, they are also making them jump through hoops to keep their car legal. People won't stand for much more of this. Hopefully they'll vote out the idiots who impose these burdens.

Check out this paragraph:

Military personnel who hold out-of-state driver's licenses will need an additional piece of identification, which could be a passport or a birth certificate, to prove legal residence. A military ID doesn't pass muster.

So now the state of Alabama is making things difficult for military personnel. This will not go over well.

[JoeyT]

7. Several policies contributed to this.

And all of them were bad ideas. Let's make the application process extra long! + Let's fire as many workers as we possibly can and claim we saved money! = Stupid fucking idea squared.

It's not like they weren't warned repeatedly and loudly that either policy was going to cause this problem.

[dickthegrouch]

8. Exactly how does one prove eligibility?

So you have a piece of paper written some number of years ago. Why must I assume it's yours? There's no finger print on it, a photo on it would be useless. The whole notion of proof of citizenship, or residency eligibility, is a house of cards.

A few years ago, my passport had less than 6 months until expiry and I was forced to get a new one to continue my travel. Why any immigration authority would prefer a brand new passport, issued in mere hours in a jurisdiction I had never previously visited, to one with 9 years and 7 months on it is completely beyond my comprehension.

As usual they've written the law to make it as inconvenient as possible to protest with civil disobedience or any other remedy except repeal.

Just wait till someone gets fired for not showing up to work because they were in line to prove the unprovable. I predict a very nasty court case over that.

(typos)

[Downwinder]

10. I think I will demand to see their certification for footprints.

.That is the only way my birth certificate can be authenticated.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Here is how stupid it works now:

When I moved BACK to Alabama a few years ago, I had to apply for a new state driver's license, of course.
And Mr. Dixie did too.
I was a previous resident of Ala
he was not.
Patriot Act rules: have to prove citizenship to get license.

HE had to order a copy of his birth certificate.

I did not, because I was already in the Ala driver's license database......since 1986!
I got my license after an eye exam and paying 23.00.

Because having a Ala. state license since 1986 somehow made ME a non-terrorist suspect.

[bongbong]

11. Don't worry

They'll blame this on Liberals. Ab-so-fucking-lootely guaranteed.