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Ralph Northam on Immigration |
A: I'll work side by side with our attorney general to make sure that ICE is not overstepping their bounds, so that people, especially immigrants, in Virginia aren't living in fear. Something that we are very proud of in Virginia is that we are inclusive. Our lights are on; our doors are open. We will stand up against ICE. We will do everything we can to make sure immigrants are comfortable living here.
Republican Corey Stewart slammed Northam's stance as "blatant disregard for the law." Ed Gillespie said, "Virginia plain and simply should not give legal identification to illegal immigrants."
The issue surfaced when Northam was asked where he stood on a proposal to grant temporary driver's licenses to people who can't receive a permanent one because of their immigration status. "We need to make sure that we have immigration reform for this county, we make sure that we have a pathway to citizenship in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and we need to make sure that people have access to driver's licenses," he said. A total of 12 states allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, according to a breakdown of state laws from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Being smart on crime is just as important as being tough on crime. We need to take low cost steps to help Virginia's finest do their jobs: [including] working with the federal government to enforce immigration laws, rather than diverting scarce state and local resources from other responsibilities.
