Pro-border security advocates are warning that the new North Carolina driver's license is a dangerous first step toward a "North American Union" driving permit.
The Tar Heel State recently introduced a license that includes a hologram on its reverse side.
The problem: Critics object that the hologram portrays the entire North American continent, not just the United States. Moreover, they say it looks just like the map of North American used as the logo on the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America Web site (www.spp.gov).
The SPP supports enhanced regulatory cooperation and the promotion of cross-border trade among the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Those who object to the North American Union and related projects like the NAFTA Super Highway say it will compromise American sovereignty, exacerbate border-security concerns, and ultimately lead to economic hardships for U.S. citizens.
Groups opposed to illegal immigration worry that a North American driver's license could ultimately enable a citizen of Mexico, Canada, or the United States to travel freely anywhere on the Continent.
William Gheen, who heads the Raleigh, N.C.-based Americans for Legal Immigration political action committee, says the new license is “‘North American Union' ready.”
Gheen says he’ll protest the new license by refusing to apply for a license, even though it will prevent him from driving a car and make it difficult to travel on a commercial airline.
The hologram is a foil-based security patch that carries design features both visible and invisible to the human eye, including a variety of codes, numbers, and 3-D and fluorescent images. North Carolina DMV officials say the new licenses will eventually be used all over North America, and will take several years to roll out.
North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Marge Howell says the new licenses will increase security, protect against document fraud, and aid law enforcement officials in identifying crime suspects.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators that designed the hologram represents state and provincial officials in the United States and Canada who administer and enforce motor vehicle laws. The government of Mexico is also a member, though individual Mexican states have yet to join.
"The goal is of the North American hologram is to get one common element that law enforcement throughout the continent can look at on all driver's licenses and tell that the driver's license is an official document," Howell says.
Because the hologram is almost impossible to duplicate, Howell says it will be much more difficult for illegal immigrants to get a bogus license.
But the new licenses have prompted an online opposition effort by FaxDC.com. Missouri state Rep. Jim Guest also is opposed.
"I was astonished when I saw that North American hologram on the North Carolina driver's license," Guest said, according to FaxDC. "I thought right then that this was going to be the prototype for the driver's license of the North American Union.”
The driver’s license flap comes in the midst of a joint U.S.-Mexico pilot program that allows Mexican truckers to make long-haul trips into the United States. Currently, trucks from Mexico are allowed to venture only within the 20- to 25-mile commercial zone in place along the U.S. border.
Under the year-long experiment, though, a select group of about 100 Mexican trucking companies will be allowed to make deliveries beyond the 20- to 25-mile commercial zone.
To participate, Mexican drivers must have a commercial driver's license, must pass a criminal check, show proof that they are medically fit, comply with U.S. hours-of-service rules, and be able to answer questions in English and understand directions from inspectors.
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