immigration

RALEIGH – North Carolina should stop making it easy for illegal immigrants to get state driver’s licenses. That’s the main recommendation in a new Spotlight report from the John…

North Carolina makes it very easy for illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Instead of requiring Social Security Numbers to get a license, the state accepts IRS-issued Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), even though they primarily are issued to illegal immigrants. To make matters worse, the state does not even require that people prove their lawful status in the country. In 2005, the state's own auditor warned against accepting ITINs, yet the legislature still has failed to take any action.

RALEIGH – Dubious numbers hamper the debate over illegal immigration in North Carolina, according to a new Spotlight report from the John Locke Foundation. “As the debate about immigration…

As the debate about immigration continues, all involved need to be aware of the limitations of existing statistics. Hispanics are about 6 percent of the state’s population and growing. Illegal immigrants make up an estimated 45 percent of the state’s Hispanic population, but 76 percent of recent entrants. The economic and government service usage effects of Hispanics on the state are also significant, but the impact of illegal immigrants is less clear.