<p>
Delaware, at least, has begun requiring proof of residency to get or renew a driver’s license. And if said proof of residency has an expiration date (e.g. a visa), then the license expires on the same date if it’s less than 5 years in the future.</p>
<p>^^^^ Nebraska as well. Other states will be/are also adding similar regulations.</p>
<p>I guess more states should require proof of residency or citizenship to get a driver’s license. But then more illegal aliens will drive with no driver’s license or insurance.</p>
<p>I also don’t understand how she had a Mexican driver’s license if she’s been in the U.S. since she was 10. I also don’t see how she obtained in state tuition if she can’t prove residencey.</p>
<p>While I feel for the girl, I think there is a huge problem with letting her slide because she’s an honor student.</p>
<p>Unless she obtained a Mexican driver’s license from the Consulate in Atlanta, I’m guessing that she had to return to Mexico at some point in the past couple of years to get that document.</p>
<p>Driving without a legal license will get anyone in a lot of trouble. That the young lady is an honor student should not be the reason for her getting exemptions from the law. If the court/judge/DA at the hearings took this info under advisement, that’s one thing, but to make a big media deal out of it irks me.</p>
<p>Possibly, you can get a Mexican driving license made to order and sent by mail from Mexico without appearing in person or taking any proficiency test.</p>
<p>Obviously, the school did not know/care about her citizenship status and did not require her to fill out the typical paperwork for internationals. I don’t know what other schools demand for proof of residency but, where I live, simply graduating from a NY high school and having a NY address seems to be sufficient. Of course, SUNY also has a long history of openly granting instate tuition to undocumented students provided they have attended high school here. I believe the reasoning is that, since they’ve typically been here for many years anyway, it’s in our collective best interests that they become educated, employable, and hopefully documented, citizens. </p>
<p>I don’t understand the uninsured comments…if her vehicle was registered, wouldn’t it have to be insured? Or is that also a NY peculiarity? Our plates are revoked almost immediately if there is a lapse in coverage, which seems to be treated as a much more serious offense than driving without a current license!</p>
<p>I think the whole situation is just sad for the student who has grown up in the country and had no choice in the family’s immigration. It’s always the innocents that get caught in the middle it seems. I hope she can find a way to work through these problems and perhaps use her experience to help others facing similar dilemmas.</p>
<p>Each state has different insurance regulations. It can be truly horrible to be in an accident with an uninsured motorist – your bills, medical and auto, can be piling up and your insurance agency may be reluctant to pay if it is the other party’s fault. My insurer actually has “uninsured motorist” policy/fee just to deal with that situation. </p>
<p>My sympathy is plummeting for this young woman. She had to know she was illegally in school (if she had held a Mexican passport). Some kids reach college age and are surprised to learn that they are not citizens – that does not sound like that is the case here. </p>
<p>She had to know her passport was expired. And, what started all this? A traffic violation. True, it might have been minor, but what if it was running a red light? </p>
<p>So, this particular student is not so innocent, IMHO. The consequences are huge – but what do you think would happen to an American student who was taking advantage of a European education while posing as a European, having an expired passport and then driving without a valid driver’s license? I’d be surprised if the authorities would be very understanding at all.</p>
<p>For everyone saying that she knew that she was an illegal immigrant, what exactly do you suggest a TEENAGER do about it? Deport herself? She has spent all her formative years in the USA. Her English is probably far superior to her Spanish at this point.</p>
<p>She simply is living the only life that she knows how to live. Yes, driving without insurance poses a risk to all of us, but she probably isn’t doing so by choice. I’m sure that she and her family would happily pay taxes and insurance premiums for some type of legal status, but that is not even an option.</p>
<p>I’d say that a person who is a citizen of Mexico should do one of several things:</p>
<p>1) Attend college in Mexico, where she is a citizen</p>
<p>2) Attend college in the United States and pay out of state tuition or apply for tuition waivers</p>
<p>3) If in the United States, obtain a US drivers license if she wants to drive</p>
<p>4) Purchase vehicle insurance to cover any expenses that others may incur should she be at fault for an accident</p>
<p>Wow, give the girl a break. We don’t know all the details. In Georgia to get a tag for your car, you must pass a $25 emissions test and have insurance. The car could have been registered to whoever, we don’t know the particulars.</p>
<p>Here in Georgia, they give all High School grads with a 3.0 or above the HOPE sholarship. I can’t swear to it,(my D doesn’t go instate) but it provides $3,000/year for tuition. However you can’t get that aid unless you pay GA state taxes. So unless her parents are paying taxes, she is not getting GA tax payers dollars. Frankly, as a Ga resident and taxpayer, I don’t care if she is getting instate fees. She is doing outstanding in her classes and is obviously a motivated young woman.
My D has friends that graduated top 5% of a class of 700 and are attending instate schools, utilizing the HOPE scholarship, and are blowing it. These are kids of means, who have squanderd their education away partying, and losing the HOPE. I would much rather have this young lady who obviously takes her education seriously, getting her education here.</p>
<p>Lets not make her a poster student for illegals in higher education.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>wouldn’t you rather a deserving 18 year old who is not breaking the law be given a spot in the state school system?</p>
<p>Either she had a valid driver’s license or not. She did not. She knew she was driving without a valid license. That alone is a crime. Accepting tuition rates that do not apply to you is at the very least immoral. Should the young woman be shown mercy by ICE, she better hope that the state of Georgia does not decide to collect on the difference in tuition that she owes.</p>
<p>She may be a lovely and popular young lady. This does not change the fact that she broke the law… all on her own without the help of mum and dad… by driving w/o that license. Teenager or not she had to understand that she was not a US citizen and didn’t qualify for instate tuition as her family doesn’t pay state taxes. It’s not rocket science!</p>
<p>My sincere wish is that her family will become legal citizens of the US, enjoy the standard of living that they have been afforded here, and pay state, local, and federal taxes that help to run this country of ours. I also hope they meet with the university to come to an agreement to restitution regarding tuition, if any.</p>
<p>Yes, driving without insurance poses a risk to all of us, but she probably isn’t doing so by choice.</p>
<p>Of course it’s a choice to drive without insurance. Once she graduated from college, she could have applied to go to college in Mexico. She’s an adult now, she can do what she pleases without her parents.</p>
<p>If she just finished her 3rd year of college, then wouldn’t she be old enough to apply for citizenship?</p>
<p>Her college may allow her to stay, but isn’t it the choice of U.S. Immigration as to whether or not she is allowed to remain in our country?</p>
<p>Accepting tuition rates that do not apply to you is at the very least immoral.>></p>
<p>At the time she started college, state law granted in-state tuition to illegals in the state. She was grandfathered as long as she remained a student from what I understand. </p>
<p>The law has since changed, and if she started now, she would pay out-of-state rates.</p>
<p>Look. So many people came here legally, and they have enriched the country both with their work and with their cultures. Coming illegally is dishonorable, and it is obvious this young lady knew about the situation. I don’t know why people are so upset about her, just because she is doing well in school - does that make her a more valuable person than another, not quite so bright, but hard-working person? I could care less if the p[erson came from Europe, Africa, North or South America, etc. Illegal is illegal. Even Pres. Obama is not interfering in the possible deportation of his illegal immigrant aunt. Is this young woman more worthy than a poor African woman? If outraged over what is happening to this young woman, where is the outrage for Pres. Obama’s aunt? This is an issue about illegal aliens, no matter from where they come.</p>
<p>[Student?s</a> Arrest Tests Immigration Policy - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Student’s Arrest Tests Immigration Policy - The New York Times”>Student’s Arrest Tests Immigration Policy - The New York Times)</p>
<p>Apparently when the police pulled her over, she had an expired Mexican passport, not a Mexican driver’s license. No driver’s license of any kind!</p>
<p>So, if the NYT story is accurate her defense has a flaw or two. She’s smart and her hands aren’t clean. Still, as a teenager, what could she have done differently?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>She was driving without a license.</p></li>
<li><p>She must have had to have put a SS# on the college documents. Did she use a fake SS#. Identity fraud.</p></li>
<li><p>Fraud in taking a scholarship meant for legal residents only.</p></li>
<li><p>Some state universities require that you attest under penalty of perjury that you are a legal resident of the state in order to get in state tuition. Did she commit perjury?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the point of getting a college degree if you are illegal? Employers are now verifying the legal right to work, at least at legitimate companies. As an illegal she wouldn’t be able to work.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>And the article says she wants to go to law school! Did she think the state bar wouldn’t check out her record? They do.</p>
<p>Let the sympathy go to the legal Georgia resident who lost a spot at this school because an illegal alien took it. That is the person to feel sorry for.</p>