I agree, newtonusr, that a lot of these points actually sell themselves. I also happen to think that facilitating an effective path to citizenship as a way of getting people to embrace our values and assimilate the way they always have is just common-sensical; there, you just have to overcome people’s innate cultural xenophobia. Which is really the case with most of these issues.

The state driver’s license databases are the only comprehensive databases of U.S. residents. They’re more complete, and contain more information – including photographs and, in some cases, fingerprints – than the IRS database, the Social Security database, or state birth certificate databases. As such, they are an invaluable police tool – for investigating crimes, tracking down suspects, and proving guilt.

Sells itself. And resistance to this argument more fully exposes the nativist tendencies for what they are – either bogus political rhetoric looking for fans, or racial hatred dressed up as patriotism. Or both.