We Can't Have Inconvenience, Can We?

It is inconvenient for foreign nationals to get a driver's license in Maryland. And this, we are told, is a problem.

It is more of a self fulfilling prophecy.

Maryland is one of nine states that issue driver's licenses and identification cards to foreign-born state residents, regardless of their immigration status.

If you issue driver's licenses to all comers then naturally you are going to get more foreign nationals applying for them. And with that comes expense.

MVA Administrator John T. Kuo said the agency has tried to strike a balance between customer service and security. In July, the MVA spent nearly $500,000 on a call center in Gaithersburg staffed with eight employees fluent in English and Spanish. The agency is capable of scheduling 2,000 appointments per week on a rolling basis, yet with tens of thousands of phone calls a day, slots are quickly booked.

So now we have arrived at a state where we are not only issuing state documents to persons not entitled to them but we are paying for the privilege of doing so and that is topped off with complaints that the process is inconvenient.

It should be more than inconvenient. Much more.