LOS ANGELES. - The Mayor of the city of Lancaster, CA, Rex Parris, declared in a statement released yesterday that he is in favor of issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.

"Refusing to license immigrant drivers has had no discernible impact on the number of undocumented immigrants living in or leaving California, yet it has left our roads more unsafe," said Parris in the statement.

Parris also criticized the political debate regarding driver's licenses, and highlighted that in the most recent Department of Motor Vehicles (DVM) study, it concluded that drivers without a license are 2.6 to 2.7 times more likely to cause a fatal crash, than drivers with suspended or revoked license.

"The Californian immigration debate is full of political posturing and extreme ideology and many people cannot bring themselves to see that as a practical matter," added the Mayor.

Parris also said the DMV study, which analyzed data from car accidents in the past 23 years, found that people between 20 and 29 years who do not have a driver's license, have the highest percentage rate of fatal motor vehicle collisions.

"It is time that everyone recognizes that undocumented immigrants are already an integral and permanent part of our communities and are not going away. They are here to work and live in our state," said the Mayor, who also pointed out that 38% of the population in Lancaster are Latino.

Editorial@sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com