A recent proposal in the Florida State Senate has been gathering steam, and it is a proposal that would allow undocumented aliens to gain driver's licenses if they consented to a criminal records check not required of citizens, visitors and permanent residents. This common sense proposal is way overdue. Charging people criminally for driving without a license, when they cannot legally obtain a license, is akin to refusing to give people tax identification numbers, and then charging them criminally for failing to pay taxes. In both cases the government makes it impossible to do what it right, and then penalizes the alien for not having documents they are not allowed to have.

There are many opposed to the issuance of driver's licenses to undocumented aliens. I was speaking recently on the air with local radio personality Mark Larson, who hosts The Morning Magazine . Mr. Larson is dead set against the issuance of licenses to those without permission to be here. He views such people as criminals, for violating the laws of the United States . I pointed out to Mr. Larson that illegal presence or entry is not penalized criminally until a person has been deported and then re-entered, but he was not interested in hearing a dissenting voice. I did not point out (but I should have) that there is a long tradition in our country of persons entering the country without permission and remaining until circumstances or the law change to allow them citizenship or lawful permanent residence. The Pilgrims were people who entered the country without permission of the inhabitants. My own grandparents were probably illegal entrants from Canada .

I must imagine that Mr. Larson speaks for a significant minority of people. These people have no idea what an integral part of society the undocumented aliens are. They have no idea what undocumented aliens do, or the contribution they make to society. They have bought into the propaganda of some politicians who say that illegal aliens come here to either take jobs that would otherwise go to United States citizens, or they come in to go on welfare. The most telling comment Mr. Larson made was when he stated to me that illegals probably could not afford a car or insurance anyway. He was flabbergasted when I gave him just one example of an undocumented alien who has done well here. I recently met a person who entered the United States with permission-but who later overstayed their visa. This person opened a business a short time ago and last year had gross sales exceeding $1,000,000. I think that undocumented alien, at least, could afford a car and some insurance.

The truth is that undocumented aliens either take jobs no United States citizen would want, or they make their own jobs. Undocumented aliens are just looking for a chance to be the new (with apologies to Joan Didion) Dreamers of the Golden Dream. They want to live, do work that needs to be done, pay taxes and drive their cars without worrying about interference from the State of Florida. A driver's license says only that a person is licensed to drive. It does not make any assertion about legal status in the United States . Let's stop making undocumented alien's lives more difficult, and get behind the Governor of Florida, as he tries to make things right, and give licenses back to all drivers in Florida .

Neil Lewis, Esq. is an immigration attorney and he has been practicing only immigration law since 1996. His office is located at 505 East Jackson Street, Suite 213 , Tampa , FL 33602 . He may be reached at (813) 226-2144 or at neil@neilflewis.com.