MSNBC Scarborough Country - Transcript

MSNBC  

SHOW: SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY 22:00

HEADLINE: SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY for July 2, 2003

BYLINE: Joe Scarborough

GUESTS: Gil Cedillo; Tom McClintock; Michael Medved; John Conroy; Larry Pozner; David Heath; Carl Jeffers

HIGHLIGHT:
Interviews with Gil Cedillo, Tom McClintock, Michael Medved, John Conroy, Larry Pozner, David Heath and Carl Jeffers

BODY:
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST, SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY: It's time for tonight's "Real Deal."

Now, last night we showed you how the White House is considering granting amnesty to over three million illegal immigrants from Mexico—all in the name of Hispanic outreach.

Tonight, we look at the left coast's most endangered politician, Governor Gray Davis, and this Democratic Party's latest attempts to show illegal aliens that crime pays.

The Democratic legislature has actually passed a bill out of committee that allows illegal immigrants to get a California's driver's license. That's right.

And by giving these criminals the most accepted form of identification in America, the California Democrats buy votes for themselves and chaos. I mean, it's just chaos for the rest of us.

And now facing a possible recall election this year, embattled Governor Gray Davis needs all the help he can get.

September 11 was brought about by a failure of our federal, state and local officials to track down illegal aliens living in the United States. And most of those terrorists were able to move around the country and get on those airplanes by using driver's licenses.

After those terror attacks, our government promised us that they would clamp down on illegal immigration, and that they would make sure that our borders were tight.

To prevent future acts of terror, it was just the logical thing to do. But here we are a few years later, and it looks like to me, at least, the political gamemanship is trumping national security, as illegal immigrants are given a free pass—all, because really, most of them belong to the fastest-growing demographic group in America. And that's Hispanics.

You know, just like the amnesty plan that was hatched by the White House two years ago, and then revived by Tom Ridge this week, this California plan is unfair to legal immigrants. And those people got to America by playing by the rules.

It's also unfair to those across the world, who are hoping against hope tonight that they're going to be embraced by the country that's still the last best hope for a dying world.

As for the rest of us, this plan seems to me to legitimize illegal immigration once and for all. And it's dangerous. And it owes more to winning votes for politicians and keeping our country safe from future terror attacks.

It's frightening, folks, and it's tonight's "Real Deal."

With me now to discuss the hot political topic—and it's getting hotter in California, we've got the author of the bill, California State Senator Gil Cedillo, a Democrat.

And also with us, we've got Republic State Senator Tom McClintock.

Gentlemen, I'd like to thank both of you for being with us. And let me start with you, Senator Cedillo.

A lot of people are saying this great—Davis's last ditch attempt to save his political hide. What do you say to that charge?

STATE SENATOR GIL CEDILLO, (D) CALIFORNIA: I don't care about Gray Davis. This has got nothing to do with him. This has to do with an oath I took to protect highway safety in California when I was elected as a state senator. And that oath is to ensure highway safety.

It's been the mission of our state Department of Motor Vehicles for 65 years. It was changed 10 years ago at an effort to stop immigration. It's had zero effect in that area.

And every day we have 22 million drivers on the highway, and 10 percent of them are unlicensed, untested and uninsured. We need to ensure highway safety in California, and this bill will secure that.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, Senator, that's fine. I'm sure we all want our roads to be safer. But do you really believe that highway safety in California is more important than national security across America?

CEDILLO: Absolutely not. In fact, this bill will enhance national security by ensuring that two million California residents are thumb printed or photographed or given a physical description, an address, and that we will have control in our own hands—America's own hands—a database to ensure who two million residents are of California.

So that is an additional virtue of this bill. It's an ancillary virtue of the bill, but it's not the main purpose.

The main purpose, as a state legislator, our main responsibility is to ensure that Californians are safe. And this bill is designed for California ...

SCARBOROUGH: All right.

CEDILLO: ... highways to be safe.

SCARBOROUGH: Senator McClintock, let me go to you now.

To me it seems like this bill doesn't make California or America safe. It seems very dangerous to me.

Aren't we sending a message to illegal immigrants? Break our laws, come into our country, flood over the borders, and we're going to reward you by giving you a driver's license.

STATE SENATOR TOM MCCLINTOCK, ® CALIFORNIA: And precisely. And that's not fair to the millions of people around the world who want to come to America, to be Americans and are willing to abide by our immigration laws to do so.

I wasn't...

SCARBOROUGH: Senator, is this about saving Gray Davis's butt?

MCCLINTOCK: Oh, I doubt that. But it's certainly not about highway safety. California already accepts a valid driver's license from any foreign nation in the world to operate a car on our roads. And insurance is readily available in anyone's country of origin for extended coverage in the United States.

Now, the only thing that this actually changes is to grant California driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. And the only reason for that is, valid state identity documents in the hands of illegal immigrants hampers our ability to enforce our immigration laws.

And our immigration laws are central to the concept of assimilation that has made this great and united nation from all the peoples of the world.

We are all immigrants or the sons and daughters of immigrants, in this country. What's made that possible is the process of assimilation by which one acquires the common elements of a civilization—language, customs ...

SCARBOROUGH: And doing it legally. Language, customs and also going by the law.

Senator Cedillo, I want to go back to you. Currently, to get a driver's license in California, you need a Social Security number. I mean, you've got to have it. You also need proof of citizenship or legal residency.

And every applicant has to do at least those two things.

This new bill, though, would recall that requirement and would allow those without a Social Security number to instead submit an affidavit and any other identifier that was deemed appropriate by the DMV.

Now, Senator, why are we actually lowering the requirements to get these driver's license after September 11. Don't we as a country need to decide, either illegal immigrants are breaking the law, or they should just be granted amnesty.

CEDILLO: Sure, I think, you know, first of all, I don't want the facts to get in the way of the arguments or the rhetoric. But the fact of the matter is, of the two million residents that this bill applies to, 1.2 million of them are here legally.

In fact, they have complied with our immigration laws, and that they are simply waiting in the process. And this is to ensure highway safety while people are waiting in the process to become ...

SCARBOROUGH: Now, wait, wait, wait, wait ...

CEDILLO: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) citizens.

SCARBOROUGH: ... OK, I'm sorry. So you're saying this is directed to legal immigrants, and not directed to illegal immigrants? So then, it would OK for us not to give illegal immigrants driver's licenses, right?

CEDILLO: No, I didn't say that. I said that the bill affects two million people, of which 1.2 million, or 60 percent of them, are here legal under the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) law...

MCCLINTOCK: What's a—wait a second. I have to...

(CROSS-TALK)

SCARBOROUGH: What about the other 40...

CEDILLO: ... and waiting...

SCARBOROUGH: What about the other 40 percent then?

CEDILLO: And...

SCARBOROUGH: What about the 40 percent...

CEDILLO: ... and the other 40...

SCARBOROUGH: ... that cross into this country illegally? What about those 40 percent.

CEDILLO: Right, and those 40 percent, because we are concerned about national security, will be required, as a matter of a responsibility, to drive a car in California, to have insurance. They will be required to submit a thumbprint, a photo, a physical description and their address.

And we do that because people have a concern in the post-9/11 period and in the post-war in Iraq period, that we have a sense—and not only a sense, but that we have a database and the control of that database.

We have a control of that database for all residents of California. And so ...

SCARBOROUGH: OK.

CEDILLO: ... the fact of the matter...

MCCLINTOCK: Joe, I have bring up something here.

(CROSSTALK)

SCARBOROUGH: Unfortunately, we're going to have to go.

CEDILLO: ... I think that it's important...

SCARBOROUGH: Senators...

MCCLINTOCK: Joe, legal residency in California...

SCARBOROUGH: ... I'm sorry. We're going to have to go, guys.

I apologize. I'd like to take it longer. We just can't, because we got to go to a break.