Oregon's Measure 88: The Driver Card Initiative

Measure 88 would allow persons who cannot prove they are in the U.S. legally to nonetheless be issued driver cards by the state. The knee-jerk right-wing reaction is to oppose measures such as this, and Portland radio talk show host Lars Larson is strident in his adamant opposition. He has made the point that the TSA would accept these cards as ID's at the airport.

While the ballot measure itself says this is not the case, it appears that Larson is right and that the TSA will indeed accept these cards for ID purposes. My reaction to this is, so what? It does not mean these people will be allowed to fly, it just means that the TSA will have a way to properly identify who is trying to board our planes. The TSA operates under federal law, not state law, and under the doctrine of preemption federal law supersedes state law.

Oregonians should vote for this common-sense measure, which is in the tradition of Oregon as a forward-thinking, humane state.