9/11 Families and Supporters to Rally in Hartford for Ban on Driver's License Issuance to Illegal Aliens

HARTFORD, Conn., April 27 -- With many of the victims of the World Trade Center attacks having been residents of Connecticut, family members and other concerned citizens will hold a rally in front of the State Capitol in Hartford on Wednesday April 28 to demand that the Connecticut legislature act to bar illegal aliens from obtaining state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards. The rally is organized by 9/11 Families for a Secure America, a coalition of families who lost loved ones in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Access to state-issued driver's licenses in Florida, Virginia and New Jersey was vital to the terrorists' ability to perpetrate their attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Obtaining these critical identity documents made it easy for 19 terrorists, who had no right to even be in the United States, to hide in plain sight while they planned their murderous attacks.

"Having a driver's license enabled the terrorists to rent apartments, open bank accounts and ultimately to board the jetliners they turned into weapons of mass destruction with no questions asked," said Peter Gadiel, a spokesman for 9/11 Families for a Secure America. Gadiel, a Connecticut resident, lost his son in the World Trade Center attack on 9/11. "We need explicit language in the Connecticut motor vehicle code that ensures that no one who is not legally present in the United States will ever be able to obtain these vital identity documents in this state."

Currently, under an administrative decision of the DMV, Connecticut does not issue licenses to people without proof of legal residence in the U.S. However, 9/11 Families for a Secure America is concerned that future political pressure may result in a relaxation of this policy. "That's why we need it written into state law," explained Gadiel. "We've seen it happen in too many places, even after the tragedy of 9/11, where pressure groups have mounted vigorous campaigns in other states to win driver's license privileges for illegal aliens without regard to the proven danger of such policies. People in Connecticut have lost too much to allow that to ever happen here."

During the last year, 9/11 Families for a Secure America has been instrumental in beating back attempts to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens in California, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey and Florida. "The advocates for rights and privileges for illegal aliens are relentless," noted Gadiel. "That's why we cannot rely on administrative policies such as the one that exists in Connecticut."

When: Wednesday April 28, 2004, 12 noon

Where: Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford