Reworked bill targets drivers

ATLANTA --- With immigrants' rights advocates on one side and a Republican lawmaker on the other, a House bill authorizing police to seize illegal immigrants' vehicles had all the makings of a stormy political showdown.

The bill's author, Rep. James Mills, R-Gainesville, said such a get-tough policy is needed to keep legal drivers safe. Opponents decried the bill as an overreaction to the nation's faulty immigration policy and a catalyst for racial profiling.

But that was last week.

House Bill 978 was reworked in the Senate Public Safety Committee and now contains no reference to illegal immigrants or language allowing vehicle seizures.

Motorists who were never issued a license would have their cars impounded if police catch them driving, according to the bill, which is headed for a vote on the Senate floor.

Also missing in the newest version is a $1,000 fine -- on top of impound fees -- that critics called insurmountable for poor drivers who might get pulled over or get into an accident on a trip to the corner store.

Yet some aligned against HB 978 and a similar measure that already has cleared both chambers are concerned that illegal immigrants -- and many legal Georgians, for that matter -- are still in the crosshairs.

Any vehicle impounded under HB 978 will only be released to an owner with an unexpired driver's license, something illegal immigrants are unable to obtain and some Georgians simply don't have, said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director for the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

"Again, it goes into the whole vicious cycle that undocumented immigrants don't have access to driver's licenses," Mr. Gonzalez said.

Another measure aimed at unlicensed drivers, Senate Bill 350, would increase criminal penalties for driving without a license and make the offense a felony if the driver is arrested four times within five years. Sponsored by Sen. John Wiles, R-Kennesaw, SB 350 is headed to Gov. Sonny Perdue's desk after clearing both chambers.

Mr. Wiles has said the bill, along with another he introduced this year, is an attempt to close a loophole in state law that grants some leniency to people who drive without a license. It was also partly a response to the death of a Cobb County sheriff's deputy who was killed by an unlicensed driver in Mr. Wiles' district.

Mr. Wiles could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mr. Mills did not respond to requests for comments this week, but from the introduction of his bill, he has maintained that illegal immigrants were not the target.

"There are those today that you will hear from that want to turn this into an ethnic argument. That's not the intent. But make no mistake about it, if you are in the state of Georgia and you are here illegally, then that is my full intent: to protect legal Georgia citizens," Mr. Mills said in presenting his bill to the House Public Safety Committee.