Advocates of granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants have an unlikely ally, Escondido police Chief Jim Maher, according to the North County Times.
Maher has been criticized in the past for the number of checkpoints set up to crack down on unlicensed drivers.
The police chief told the paper Monday that the checkpoints reduce Escondido’s hit and run crashes but also said making sure everyone driving in Escondido has a license, including illegal immigrants, is a matter of public safety.
Bill Flores, a spokesman for El Grupo, an umbrella group of civil rights organizations in the county, has been a critic of Escondido checkpoint policy. He said that the chief's support for the Cedillo bill is "of no consequence" and "a completely different issue."
"We want the checkpoints to stop," Flores said.
You can read more about the proposed bill supported by the police chief in the full article.
