I don't know about New York state's drivers licenses, but on the back of my California drivers license, there's a warning: "This License is issued as a license to drive a motor vehicle. It does not establish eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits." And yet, the drivers license has become the identification of choice for most organizations. It immediately proves your identity, whether you're using your credit card, taking an airplane, or buying five cases of MD 20/20.

But perhaps the drivers license shouldn't be used this way. After all, the only thing it's supposed to do is prove that, in the opinion of the state of issue, you're competent to drive a car. It just so happens that it contains a whole bunch of other interesting information, like your name, your birthdate, your picture, and your signature. Until recently, in most states, it also carried your social security number. In 2000 (the year I got my first drivers license), Ohio allowed you to elect whether or not you wanted your social security number on your drivers license (I chose "no"). Currently, California doesn't put your social security number on there at all.

The ubiquity of a drivers license (practically every adult has one) and the convenience (you have to carry it whenever you drive, so most people put it in their wallets and forget about it) make it a natural choice for a de facto identification card. But the problem is that illegal immigrants can't get them, since they don't have social security numbers. In most states, you need a social security card and another document to prove that you are who you claim to be. The social security card is, for all intents and purposes, a federal ID number. You use it everywhere, even on that most official of places, your taxes. Because the social security number's veracity is backed by the "full faith and credit" of the federal government, most states and organizations take it for granted that your social security number is a good way to identify you. Because if you can't trust a social security number, not being able to get into a Star Trek convention is the least of this nation's problems.

In steps New York Governor Elliot Spitzer. Two months ago, Spitzer announced that he would be changing New York's policy for issuing drivers licenses. Social security numbers would no longer be a requirement for establishing identity, meaning illegal immigrants -- who can't get social security numbers -- could get drivers licenses. In a press release, the New York DMV spun the policy change as an issue of public safety:

The DMV estimates that tens of thousands of undocumented, unlicensed and uninsured drivers are currently on New York’s roads, contributing to increased accidents and hit-and-runs as well as higher auto insurance rates. In addition, bringing more New Yorkers into the system will ensure a greater number of people have a license record that, if necessary, can be used to enhance law enforcement efforts.

The press release goes further into the history of identificationr requirements in the state of New York. It says that social security number requirements were first enacted in 1995 "as part of an effort to punish parents who were not paying child support." This is a long way away from establishing identity, if true. In 2002, the DMV allowed people who were ineligible for social security numbers to obtain a drivers license. provided they obtained a letter from the Social Security Administration stating they were ineligible for a social security number. The only change happening to DMV policy is that the DMV no longer requires an applicant to provide a letter of ineligibility; the applicant just checks a box on the form stating that he is ineligible.

Security, says the press release, will be assured by expanding the number of documents you can use to prove your identity. Furthermore, photo recognition technology -- in use in 18 other states -- will be used to prevent people from obtaining multiple licenses.

But what are these documents you can use?! New York uses a very interesting system for determining your identity. The state assigns point values to particular forms of identification -- a U.S. passport is worth 4 points, a military photo ID is worth 3 points -- and then tells you how many points you need to get a particular kind of license. To get a new drivers license, for example, you need 6 points of identification. If you cobble together enough documents to prove you are who you claim to be, then congratulations! You have a drivers license!

There is nothing wrong with this idea, but anti-immigration groups want you to think there is. The New York Post, for example, is concerned about illegal immigrants voting:

While it is up to the local boards of election to determine who is eligible to vote, it is rare that election officials check into a person's legal status, particularly if they have identifying information on their voter-registration form like a driver's license or the last four digits of a Social Security number, [Board of Elections spokesman Lee] Daghlian said.

In order to register, a person must sign an affidavit stating that they are an American citizen.

"You assume that people don't lie, and that's what the form says," Daghlian said. "It's an affidavit you sign under penalty of perjury."

But Daghlian concedes, "Nobody checks it" to determine its validity.

At the polls, voters are asked to show some form of photo ID, like a driver's license, to prove their identity, Daghlian said.

"I suppose it would be [tough to catch] if someone wanted to take advantage of the system and try to get a number of people registered who aren't citizens and went ahead and got them driver's licenses," he said.

Well, here's problem number one: don't use drivers licenses to determine eligibiity for voting, because that's not what it's for. In California, I haven't been asked for my drivers license as proof of my identity. Maybe that's because of the disclaimer on the back of my drivers license. Maybe New York should invest in such a disclaimer?

Also, the part about trying to get a number of people registered illegally doesn't really happen. There's not a lot of individual voter fraud in this country. What there is in this country is a lot of systematic election fraud. That's large-scale fraud perpetrated by an official entity, like former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. There just isn't pervasive individual voter fraud going on.

This is what all states should do. Even illegal immigrants need to drive, and they will drive whether or not they have licenses. It's a great fallacy that a lot of people -- largely on the right -- believe: making something illegal will stop people from doing it. Humans don't work that way. They will only stop doing that activity if their own interest in that activity is less than their interest in not being prosecuted. (Also, you need to multiply their interest in not being prosecuted by the probability that they'll get caught.) Illegal immigrants are terrified of taking advantage of government services, though, because they're afraid that any interaction with an authority may result in them getting deported. Allowing them to get drivers licenses is a step in the right direction toward telling them that they should be accessing government services. They're paying taxes for those services; why shouldn't they be allowed to take advantage of them? Whatever happened to the belief that anything can be procured for the right price? If an illegal immigrant can pay the $25 to get a drivers license, why not let them have it? It doesn't confer any rights or benefits; it just lets them drive a car.