Burning Atlanta

Illegals can be very resourceful in exploiting the system. Sadly, in this case, there seem to be some in government that have no problem with illegals getting around the laws.

No tags, no cars, no licenses. Stop rewarding them for ignoring our laws.

Illegal immigrants can still get a license plate in Fulton County despite a state law that tightened access to tags.

The year-old law has made it very difficult for immigrants without visas to register cars in most counties because they need a Georgia driver's license first. To get a license, they must show a valid visa.

Fulton has interpreted the state law differently, leading to more lenient requirements.

"We're not interested in knowing whether they're illegal or not," Fulton County Chief Deputy Tax Commissioner Angie Lewis said. "That's not our role. We're registering cars."

Lewis points to an exemption to the law that says a "nonresident" can use a foreign driver's license, or a license from another state, to get a tag. The county requires the person to have a utility bill in his or her name that proves residency in Fulton County, Lewis said.

Noncompliance with laws that touch on immigration is "rampant," said D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, an organization opposed to illegal immigration. "This is a brilliant example," he said.

"The contempt that these public officials have for the law is a danger to public safety," King said. His group is named for a young Georgian killed in a car crash in which an illegal immigrant was charged.

In DeKalb County the number of tag applications for corporate cars has shot from zero to about 30 percent of the tag and title business in the last year, said Brent Bennett, director of vehicle registrations for Dekalb's tax commission office. A corporation does not need a Georgia driver's license for a tag. The Georgia Office of the Secretary of State is aware of the issue and wants legislation to tighten the loophole, office spokesman Matt Carrothers said.

Meanwhile, tag and title companies charge hundreds of dollars to help file the corporate paperwork.

Araceli Rubiños, a clerk at Seguros America on Buford Highway, says her company charges $365 to register someone as a corporation with the secretary of state and obtain the tag. Seguros America does the deal for residents of DeKalb and Fulton counties only. "All of our clients are people who don't have licenses in Georgia," Rubiños said.