Angel families react to Virginia law giving illegals driving privileges

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Virginia's move to allow immigrants who entered the United States illegally to obtain permission to drive in the state is "dangerous" and "utter nonsense," according to a pair of Angel parents who lost their adult sons to drivers who had entered the country without permission.

"An illegal driver presents many dangers in our country whether they have a driver’s license or not," said Mary Ann Mendoza, whose son, Mesa Police Sgt. Brandon Mendoza, was killed in 2014 after an immigrant living in the country without permission, who was driving drunk on the wrong side of the road, struck him head-on.

The driver, Raul Silva Corona, also died in the crash.

VIRGINIA TO GRANT 'DRIVER PRIVILEGE CARDS' TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Mendoza noted that driving laws can differ starkly between other countries and the U.S.

Mary Ann Mendoza and Don Rosenberg both lost their adult sons to illegal immigrant drivers. (FOX//FOX)

"Driving drunk is against the law here but acceptable in other societies," she said. "The majority of illegals cannot read our English traffic signs, which creates chaos in some situations."

She also said she was worried about automatic voter registration under some states’ programs and that such IDs could allow immigrants in the country without permission to access domestic flights and secure government buildings.

Virginia officials said the driver privilege cards are not REALID-compliant and cannot be used for those purposes.

"When your family is affected by illegal crime, especially by an illegal driver, you tend to view things more realistically," Mendoza said.

Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that it will offer "driver privilege cards" to taxpaying immigrants who entered the country illegally beginning on Jan 2, 2021.

"We talk so much in Virginia about being open and inclusive and welcoming to all, and certainly our immigrants, and those that haven’t had the ability to drive and even some of them that haven’t had the ability to have a photo ID," Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said when he signed the legislation in a livestreamed ceremony in July.

He said that one activist who wanted to speak in favor of the bill couldn’t get into the Patrick Henry Building in Richmond due to a lack of ID.

"Sometimes we take a lot of these things for granted, but again it’s important to treat everybody equally and make sure they’re welcome," he said.

Several other states, including New York, New Jersey and California, allow immigrants living in the country without permission to get similar driving privileges. Proponents say they make the roads safer since immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission would just drive unlicensed without the ability to obtain driving privileges.

Don Rosenberg’s son, Drew Rosenberg, was 25 years old and riding his motorcycle in San Francisco when Roberto Galo slammed a car into him on Nov. 16, 2010. Galo, who entered the country without permission from Honduras and later earned temporary protective status, had been cited five months earlier for driving unlicensed, uninsured and the wrong way down a one-way street. 

MORE THAN A MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SCORED CALIFORNIA DRIVER'S LICENSES, STATE DMV ANNOUNCES

Galo was convicted of manslaughter, spent six weeks in jail and was deported in 2013.

"Allowing illegal aliens to get a driver’s license (or ‘privilege card’) is not only bad policy but also dangerous," Rosenberg, who is president of Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime, told Fox News Wednesday. "As a group, illegal aliens are terrible drivers. Years of data show they are five times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision, five times more likely to drive drunk, and 10 times more likely to hit-and-run."

He argued that states that have begun allowing immigrants who entered the country without legal permission to get licenses or similar permission to drive have seen increases in traffic-related deaths – some spiking as much as 19%.

"Every one of these bills is prefaced by comments from its supporters that licensing will make the roads safer," he said. "They never provide any evidence because none exists."

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He also called the justification that immigrants who entered the country without legal permission should get driver’s licenses if they pay taxes "utter nonsense."

"Paying taxes do not grant illegal aliens any legal standing," he said. "I don’t know how much illegal aliens pay in taxes, but I’m sure the state's costs are much greater than the taxes they pay."