By Matthew Casey

Is not one of the biggest concerns about illegal immigrants that they live in the United States anonymously, cut off from U.S. culture and mainstream society?

Today’s Top Story, written by Clay Austin for the Houston Chronicle, covers a new Texas Department of Public Safety policy which requires non-citizens to prove they are legally in the United States before they are issued a drivers license.

Houston Chronicle reader “ymartinez91” summed it up best, “In other words, since illegals don’t want to announce that their papers aren’t in order, they WON’T go get a T(emporary) D(rivers) L(icense), they WON’T be able to buy insurance without it and they WILL drive our streets without both. Then when they crash into us, we will be the ones left with the bill since they have no paperwork whatsoever. What a great idea!!…”

I must say that it is rare that an anti-illegal immigrant activist and an immigrant rights activist agree, but Martinez is 100 percent correct.

The only thing this new policy will accomplish is to further separate illegal immigrants from mainstream society. This would be acceptable if mainstream and underground societies never crossed paths, but the reality is that they do everyday.

Austin reports, “’The idea that there’s a flood of people (illegal immigrants) going into DPS offices, signing a form saying they’re not eligible for a Social Security card and then getting driver’s licenses is unbelievable,’ said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.

Coleman said the crackdown was election year ‘demagoguery’ by (Gov. Rick) Perry.

‘It (immigration) is the issue that galvanizes their (Republican) base,’ he said.”

Politics are politics and one can only hope that the Texas “Republican base” is smart enough to realize that this new policy does nothing to stop illegal immigration, and instead will make them “the ones left with the bill…”