SF's last chance to feel politically smug in 2007: Michigan chickens out on illegal immigrants driving

by Benjamin Wachs

Life just got lonlier for a Sancturary City. Michigan, one of 7 remaining states that offered drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, decided yesterday that driving in the U.S. is a members only privilege.

The reason? (at least the legal one): people who aren’t in America legally can’t be lawful residents of Michigan. Hmmmm … that actually makes sense.

Michigan is just the latest domino to fall: in the last year North Carolina, Tennessee, and New Mexico also clamped down.

That leaves just six remaining states - Hawaii, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington – offering licenses to people without citizenship documentation. This year New York considered allowing illegals to get drivers licenses for about 10 minutes, then crashed back down to reality along with Eliot Spitzer’s poll numbers.

And, of course, San Francisco voted last month to offer municipal IDs to any city residents. That’s not as good as drivers licenses, but, definitely sets us apart from the national trend and gives us one last thing in 2007 to feel incredibly smug about.