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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 30, 2002
Re: Immigrants in license-security bind, April 25.
Your story stopped short of explaining why we must insist that identification be established when a resident applies for a Florida driver's license. Far from "cracking down" on any minority group, we are doing our best to protect the security of all Floridians, including those in the Hispanic community.
Drivers' licenses are indeed "standard identification for many basic transactions" in our country. That's why terrorists want them. Airlines check drivers' licenses when passengers board; the possible tragic consequences of lax standards for this key form of identification cannot be underestimated.
Even so, the Florida law banning the issuance of drivers' licenses to those who cannot prove legal residency in the United States was not a reaction to the events of Sept. 11; it was signed in 1999. And as an Executive Branch agency, we must uphold the law.
Upholding this law also helps to deter another growing form of crime: identity theft. Establishing a false identity via a driver's license allows a criminal to access a real person's finances and personal information. Unfortunately, Florida is home to many perpetrators of this crime.
Our department is sensitive to the concerns voiced by some Hispanic Floridians, but making it easy to get a driver's license without proper identification is not the answer. The security risks are very real, and we are committed to ensuring that all those issued drivers' licenses in Florida are exactly who they say they are.
-- Fred O. Dickinson, executive director, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Tallahassee
Re: Immigrants in license-security bind.
It's this simple: I will pay more for my produce.
Bottom line: Get the illegals out of this country. Our market forces will ensure that prices do not climb very high. Any expert in economics will tell you that. If prices get high, people buy less, growers improve productivity, middlemen lower margins, prices go down.
My father struggled for 12 years between 1946 and 1958 to get here legally and even moved to another country thousands of miles from his original home in order to improve his chances. And he did it all legally!
If illegals think it is a struggle to get a license, they should get here legally, get correct paperwork and apply.
Oh, by the way, learn to speak English, too. The hard times experienced in doing day-to-day tasks build character. Neither of my parents had outreach organizations that helped them. And they couldn't take driving tests or register to vote in any language other than English.
If life is so tough here for illegals (or any other immigrants), get out! Go back home. Just because you are in America does not mean everything will be handed to you. Most legal immigrants know that, except there are many organizations that cater to the victimization of illegals, which then go crying to the bleeding-heart press.
-- Vilmar Tavares, Spring Hill
Re: Immigrants in license-security bind.
It is good that you highlighted the difficulties created by the state's crackdown on issuing licenses to noncitizens.
There is, however, another group of people who are also seriously troubled by these changes. This is the substantial number of foreign retirees who spend several month each year in Florida and who have passed driving tests here and who hold Florida licenses. These are required so that they can drive their cars, get auto insurance, cash their checks and otherwise provide convenient ID wherever required. It is not very practical to carry and produce one's passport in every store when issuing a check.
My wife and I are in this group and obtained our licenses many years ago by submitting evidence of our identity, such as our passports and overseas driving licenses.
These new regulations are in a sense a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Sept. 11 tragedy, just like the proposed changes from the INS which seek to limit the time we can stay in the United States from six months in any 12-month period to 30 days.
It makes it very difficult to maintain our holiday homes here and that would be a substantial loss to the Florida economy.
It would probably be helpful to see a followup article, focusing on this problem and so hopefully drawing the attention of the legislators who so far are showing scant interest. Just note the comment from Bob Sanchez, spokesman for the State Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles: "There are some people in a pickle. There are innocent people and productive residents who are going to get caught up in this situation and will have to work their way out of it."
Frankly, I find this attitude amazing from someone who is essentially a public servant!
-- Frans Verlaan, Palm Harbor
Re: Immigrants in license-security bind.
I read with much enjoyment Alicia Caldwell's article regarding Florida's Hispanics. She is right in stating that Hispanics love Florida and are moving here in record numbers. It was a surprise to many but not to us -- the Hispanic population. We have been forecasting this boom for the past 15 years or so.
Cubans have been in Florida since the beginning. They just don't get written into the history books, as they should. It is true that many other Hispanic communities are newer. A drive through our wonderful county will show you that we (Hispanics of all origins) live here and work here, be it in the fields, the orchards, the factories, the schools, the neighborhood gas stations, or as doctors, lawyers, or teachers. You name it, we do it.
The article went on to state that politicians would have a hard time reaching us because of our diversity and differences. I say, "no way, Jose!"
If those who want our votes take the initiative to communicate with us they will learn that we all want to be recognized, allowed an opportunity to participate, we want economic development (in our communities too), access to the services we pay for. We want to see people like us at the table helping making decisions that effect our lives. We want to be asked our opinion. We want our children and elderly to be a priority, too.
In summary think of us as you make your plans, hire your staff, fund your projects, and not just when its time to vote. Hispanics in Florida are a political power. Time will prove that.
-- Antonio Morejon, Tampa
Re: Invalid IDs put 23 out of job, April 25.
As a one-time call-center supervisor, I assisted thousands of prospective employees through the process of filling out the ubiquitous I-9 forms required of all employees by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Per the INS Web site: All U.S. employers are responsible for completion and retention of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States.
During the 10 or so years that I fulfilled those responsibilities, I was never once (to my knowledge) audited, either by my respective employer's human resources/payroll staff or by the feds.
This sort of paper chase is a huge waste of everyone's time and resources unless sensible steps are periodically taken by those in authority to confirm the accuracy of reporting by all concerned.
How is it possible that employers who act with due diligence don't realize that they have improperly documented workers on their payroll?
-- Jim Parker, Tampa
Re: Paying out is not the same as owning up, April 21.
It is undeniable that the egregious treatment of African-Americans deserves reparations, but oppression runs deeply through the history of the United States as well as the rest of the world. Although not fully eradicated, the oppression of the past has paved the way to a brighter future of equality.
Virtually every race at one time or another has been oppressed. Putting a monetary price on past suffering will eventually throw our great nation into serious debt, and, more important, individual reparation reflects greed and materialism more than closure. Who is being justified by this "conceptual justice?" As the article states, the African-Americans receiving the payments were never slaves and those paying the debt never owned slaves. Would it be right if I demanded reparation from Egypt for oppressing the Israelites, presumably one of my ancestors, in biblical times?
-- Natalie Paul, St. Petersburg
Re: Dodgeball Darwinism, by Martin Miller, April 22.
Oh, for crying out loud. Now we're taking mollycoddling right into the gym.
The article outlines a new movement to ban dodgeball from school playgrounds on the basis of hurt feelings and potential injury. Kit Broadbelt, supervisor of curriculum instruction at the Pasco County School District says, "We've progressed to the point in P.E. where we don't need activities that are demeaning to anyone."
Let's look at the progress public school P.E. has made since I was a child: According to the National Center for Health Statistics (www.cdc.gov), the percentage of overweight children in the United States has increased from 4 percent in 1963 to 13 percent in 1999. In other words, the number of overweight kids has more than tripled in recent years.
Physical competition occurs in life, like competition on other levels such as college placement, job placement and obtaining tickets for a Broadway show. It's a fact of life that in any competition, some people win, some lose and the next time they compete the outcome will probably be different, because those who lose are often compelled to try harder. Thus is character built (remember character?). Physical education should reflect these realities for the sake of imparting to participating (competing) kids some of the coping skills they'll need later in life.
Nowhere in the article did I see an important element of dodgeball: If the "target" kid actually catches the ball, the one who threw it is "out." Surely we can show our kids how to catch a ball if they can't get out of its way. I grew up playing dodgeball. It's a blast and a good workout. And I don't recall ever seeing anyone damaged emotionally or physically.
If we eliminate competition from P.E. programs for emotional safety, the kids lose. Nobody wins.
-- Jim Kenefick, St. Petersburg
Re: Rescuers, ages 6 and 8, save uncle from gulf, April 23.
It was a real treat to read a story with a happy ending. I wonder if people are aware how remarkable it is that an 8-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl were able to work together to pilot a 22-foot boat and save their uncle from the Gulf of Mexico. As an infrequent user of a 21-foot boat, I am amazed that Alex and Katie Walsh were savvy enough to make the necessary 911 call for assistance and then guide this boat back to their uncle some 50 yards away. This was no small feat in my mind. Alex couldn't even see over the console, so he had to rely on Katie's guidance from the bow of the boat. Talk about grace under pressure.
When you think how tragically this situation might have played itself out, these two kids are really to be commended for keeping their cool in what must have been an incredibly stressful situation for them.
-- Shay Routh, St. Petersburg
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