By Allan Wall

Should illegal aliens in the state receive a special driver’s license? That’s the recommendation of an official state labor task force commissioned by our esteemed Governor Kevin Stitt.

As I explained in my previous article (Mexican Meddling in Oklahoma (OK Constitution, Summer 2024 edition), Governor Stitt hesitated to, but finally signed House Bill 4156, an anti-illegal alien bill. But he simultaneously set up a labor task force which sabotages the very bill which he signed into law. (Of course, the law was soon put on ice by the federal judiciary, but that hadn’t occurred yet.)

The group Stitt set up was the Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force (OSWPV). One of the designated members of this task force was none other than Edurne Pineda, the blonde Mexican consul in Oklahoma City. That would appear to be a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, of which both the U.S. and Mexico are signatories. This treaty forbids diplomats interfering “in the internal affairs of the State” of the country in which they are posted.

Of course it’s also a blatant violation of American sovereignty. You’d think conservatives would be concerned about that. Then again, maybe not. I didn’t see any Oklahoma politicians or prominent activists speak out against it (with the exception of this periodical).

So, what’s going on here?

Mexico has 52 consulates on U.S. soil, the biggest consular network in the world. Mexican diplomats in the United States blatantly meddle in U.S. internal politics, protecting illegal aliens, promoting illegal immigration and campaigning against U.S. legislation.

Sure enough, Consul Pineda campaigned against the passage of House Bill 4156, with no reprimand from Governor Stitt nor any other state official. Her reward was to be named to the task force.

They had meetings from June to August of 2023. In the July 22nd meeting, Mexican Consul Pineda delivered a discourse on how great immigration is for the United States.

What did they come up with? The following suggestions:

1. “This Taskforce recommends creating an Office of New Oklahomans to promote interagency coordination and collaboration on issues impacting non-citizens in state and federal government.”

2. “This Taskforce recommends empowering employers, internationally trained talent and migrant workers with the tools and information necessary to fill high-need sector jobs.” Translation: Allow employers to hire cheap foreign labor.

3. “This Taskforce recommends promoting policies which optimize efficiency for international talent navigating credentialing processes.”

4. “This Taskforce recommends piloting innovative solutions to increase work permits and visas issued to non-citizens seeking to move and/or living in Oklahoma.” At the end of Section #4 the document recommends that the state “Consider advocating for and implementing a state-issued visa program.” A state visa program? What a bad idea!

5. “The Taskforce recommends issuing Driving Privilege Cards to qualifying non-citizens to address public safety concerns.”

Supposedly the Driving Privilege Cards (DPC) would have a different status than a regular driver’s license and would only be used for driving. If you believe that I have some beachfront property in the Panhandle I’d like to sell you. Foreign driver’s licenses are already accepted for strictly driving purposes. The reason illegal alien boosters are so adamant about getting licenses for illegal aliens is that driver’s licenses are de facto identity documents, used for many other purposes besides driving. They are also “breeder docs,” documents used to obtain other documents. Open borders boosters know this. That’s why obtaining them for their illegal alien charges is so important.

The task force has the gall to include this sentence: “A DPC may only be issued to an individual with no criminal record and who provides certain documentation verifying their identity, residency, and nationality.”

By “residency” it doesn’t mean legal status, it just means you live somewhere. It could just be an electric bill, for example.

And as for vetting these people for “criminal records,” that’s an absolute joke. Do you think that their home country is going to tell us, “Oh no, this guy committed a crime. Send him back.”

Illegal aliens may have sketchy documents or no documents at all. Not to worry, the Mexican Consul was content.

According to an Oklahoma City KOCO-TV news article, “While they still need to be reviewed, task force member and Mexican Consul Edurne Pineda says the recommendations could make a difference, ‘To continue working with immigrants and to continue building up public policy and recommendations to the different authorities in the state to address the immigration reality in the best way possible.’”

Bien dicho, Consul Pineda. After all, isn’t the Mexican government the 4th branch of Oklahoma government? Our illustrious governor seems to think so.

Allan Wall is a Spanish teacher in a public school and resided for a decade and a half in Mexico. Allan writes about immigration-related issues, the contemporary Mexican scene, and how immigration is viewed south of the border. Allan’s website is www.allanwall.info