Editor,
The Navy no longer allows visitors to use Washington state drivers’ licenses for entry to bases because Washington licenses are not a secure means of identification as required by the Real ID Act passed by the federal government in 2005.
Why aren’t our licenses secure?
In the Whidbey News-Times article, Brad Benfield, of the Department of Licensing, said that the state legislature made it impossible to comply with the Real ID Act because, “Washington state can’t require people to show ‘proof of legal presence’ to get a license — a key benchmark of the federal government.”
Foreign nationals do not have to provide a Social Security number and they may use a consulate card from their home countries or their foreign passports and a local utility bill from Washington to show their local address.
That’s it, and it’s not safe.
One of the biggest dangers is the mobility it provides to drug traffickers, and drugs are a huge problem.
In October, the Drug Enforcement Agency released the 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary. Acting Director Chuck Rosenberg stated, “The trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs pose a monumental danger to our citizens … The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 46,471 of our citizens died of a drug overdose in 2013.”
Who are these drug traffickers?
“The most significant drug trafficking organizations operating in the United States today are the dangerous and highly sophisticated Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations that continue to be the principal suppliers of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana,” according to Director Rosenberg.
The Seattle division of the DEA arrested 12 involved in a drug trafficking ring in November. Most are probably Mexican nationals, judging from the names listed on the DEA website, but the residences listed are mostly in Snohomish County.
Unfortunately, the suspected ring leader, Carlos Antonio Villa-Alvarez, appears to be in Mexico.
Last, look at the DEA website to see the 16 “most wanted fugitives” in our area. Of the 16, only one is an American and the others are foreign nationals, mostly Mexicans.
Our state legislators need to fix this. Contact them using the “They Represent You” information in the Whidbey News-Times.
Linda Thom
Coupeville
