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Undocumented Immigrants Worried About Bill Targeting Unlicensed Drivers

A night-time traffic stop in Durham. Credit: Wikimedia contributor Ildar Sagdejev for Creative Commons http://bit.ly/2mwxbKU

North Carolina lawmakers have proposed a bill that would allow police to confiscate the cars of unlicensed drivers. The proposal could affect thousands of people living in the state illegally.

House Bill 341 was introduced Tuesday by Onslow County Republican George Cleveland. It would allow police to tow and store vehicles operated by motorists charged with driving without a license. If not reclaimed within 90 days, those vehicles could be sold.

The Charlotte Observer reports the bill has alarmed immigrant advocates, who point out that undocumented immigrants are not allowed to get a driver's license in the state.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police often show leniency to unlicensed drivers. Some state leaders say that policy is proof that Charlotte is a so-called “sanctuary city” for people in the country illegally.

Immigrant advocate Martha Hernandez called the bill “part of a plan to intimidate and paralyze” the immigrant community.

Representative Cleveland said through a spokesperson that his bill is more about road safety than targeting any specific group of violators.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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