February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The recipient, an undocumented Irish immigrant in New York, is now in a quandary, caught between the grinding wheels of a state bureaucracy and a life that is now more rooted in America than it ever was in Ireland.
And she is not alone. Identical letters have been winging their way to other undocumented Irish whose 10-year driver’s permits are coming up for renewal this year.
The simple effect of what follows “Dear DMV Customer” could be the end of an American life that, while shadowy and unfulfilled, was made considerably more tolerable as a result of the freedom and job mobility offered by a license and an insured car.
Carol, who is from Donegal and lives in Westchester County, is the recipient of the DMV letter. The effect of reading the letter was like being broadsided by a truck.
“I have lived here for the better part of the last 20 years,” she said. “Having to quit and go back to Ireland will break my heart.
“I’m working as a home health-care provider and I need my car. If I don’t have a license, I can’t drive because I won’t be insured. This has been very stressful.”
The letter informed Carol that the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles now required verification of an individual’s social security number for all learner’s permits, driver’s licenses and identification documents issued by the department.
The DMV had checked the social security number provided by Carol 10 years ago with records held by the Social Security Administration in Washington, D.C. They did not match.
This was no surprise to Carol because her number is a rejigged version of someone else’s who moved back to Ireland.
This, not surprisingly, is not the way that Carol would like it to be. She has entered every visa lottery stretching back to the Donnelly program in an attempt to secure a green card, but with no success.
“It’s ridiculous. We could be contributing to the continued building of this country,” Carol said of herself and other undocumented Irish now facing the license crunch. “This is my life. I have a tax identification number and I pay my taxes. I love this country.”
Carol, who is in her mid-30s, has lived through many of the problems that are part and parcel of being undocumented. She was last back in Ireland a decade ago when her father died. It has become too risky to travel back since then.
Ironically, Carol agrees with the increased U.S. border security and surveillance that would make a visit back to Ireland a near certain one-way trip.
She too lived through the horror of Sept. 11, 2001. But she does not see herself, and people like her, as falling into the same category as those who would wish harm to the United States.
The DMV, meanwhile, is poised to do Carol a fair deal of harm.
The letter warns that the DMV will not be able to process any transactions relating to the conflicting social security records “until this issue is resolved.” The DMV requested that Carol contact the DMV within 15 days of the date of the letter. That time limit expires this week.
In heavy print, the letter carried a stark warning: “Please be advised that if you do not contact us within 15 days from the date of this letter, we will have to take additional action, including the possible suspension of your learner permit, driver license or identification document.”
The DMV has required the social security numbers of driver’s license applicants since 1995.
But it is only this year that the DMV — now in possession of new cross-checking technology — has started notifying license holders that before existing licenses are renewed, numbers previously provided must match records in Washington.
The result has been that undocumented Irish who obtained licenses 10 years ago are being asked to explain the often dichotomous numbers.
And this has undocumented immigrants like Carol in a tailspin.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said.