St. Charles Representatives Team Up to Stop Foreigners from Driving in Missouri

By Chad Garrison Wed., Apr. 7 2010 at 10:29 AM

Categories: Immigration, News

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Chuck Gatschenberger

So, just for fun, let's review how St. Charles state representatives are banning together to stop all those funny speaking foreigners (read: suspected illegal aliens) from driving in Missouri.

First there's Chuck Gatschenberger (R - St. Charles County) who -- when not filing legislation having to do with expanding gun rights, drug-testing the poor and repealing federal health care legislation -- has filed no fewer than three bills this session aimed at keeping foreign-language speakers off Missouri roads.

They are:

HB 2139: Would allow the state only to administer a driver's license exam in English. (Currently the Missouri Highway Patrol administers the exam in Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Japanese, Bosnian, Korean, Chinese, French, German, Greek and Italian.)
HB 2140: Prohibits the Director of the Department of Revenue from supplying or permitting the use of foreign-language interpreters in connection with the required Missouri driver's license written and driving tests.
HB 2143: Requires an applicant for a Missouri driver's license to be a United States citizen.

Gatschenberger likes to say that the bills are designed to promote safety. Never mind that foreigners visiting Missouri can drive on their home country's driver license -- regardless of whether or not they understand English.

No, as immigration attorneys note, Gatschenberger's bills are all about discriminating against non-native Americans.

"These bills would effectively prohibit any refugee, foreigner working here on a H-1B visa, or even a new U.S. citizen without a command of English from getting a driver's license in Missouri," Ken Schmitt, an immigration attorney in south county, tells Daily RFT.

You knew Cynthia Davis had to be involved with this, didn't ya?

What's more, Schmitt says that if Gatschenberger's intent is to keep illegal immigrants from obtaining a Missouri driver's license, that issue is already covered in HB 1549, an omnibus immigration bill passed in 2008.

"Believe me, it's already impossible for an undocumented worker to get a driver license in Missouri," says Schmitt.

But wait! Gatschenberger has competition in his quest to stop immigrants from driving. His colleague Cynthia Davis (R - O'Fallon) has filed her own legislation to require that the driving exam only be administered in English.

Davis' HB 1231 was voted "do pass" out of the International Trade and Immigration committee last month.

Related Content:

Missouri State Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger Wants to Confiscate Drivers' Licenses of Class-Cutters

Rep. Cynthia Davis Says She's Really Not the Worst Person in the World

State Rep. Cynthia Davis Wants Guns in Churches

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