NC Issued 27,000 licenses on invalid social security numbers

More alarming news from the office of Les Merritt, our state auditor working on the state payroll and in his own personal business.

North Carolina has issued some 27,000 drivers licenses on invalid social security numbers. Why is this a big problem? This means that thousands of drivers licenses accepted for identification in all sorts of situations can't be traced back to known US citizens and could be used for virtually any purpose and could allow holders to gain access to places they should not be allowed into, cash checks or withdraw funds illegally, etc.

In a state audit report released March 20th it has been stated that "auditors don’t know if the invalid Social Security numbers were intentionally used to obtain licenses" according to Chris Mears, a spokesman for the auditor’s office. “We’re assuming that some of those simply will be keypunch errors [by DMV clerks], but we thought that 27,000 was a big number,” Mears said.

Yeah, right. This is a pretty large blunder to simply write off to possible data entry errors. This means we could have hundreds or thousands of unscrupulous people loose in the state that have accepted means of identification that could now gain access to many places where they can do harm or proceed to arrange further means to obtain funds or illegal accounts or whatever might serve their purposes without anyone knowing it.

Read the report out today..

News and Observer
March 20, 2007
Dane Kane

27,000 licenses on invalid Social Security numbers

A state audit released today has found that North Carolina has issued roughly 27,000 drivers licenses to motorists based on invalid Social Security numbers.

State Auditor Les Merritt said the problem lies with licenses issued under an older system that the state Division of Motor Vehicles now uses. The new system, which the division began using in August, checks Social Security numbers automatically before issuing licenses. The old system did not.

“The hole we discovered was that DMV did not review previously issued licenses," Merritt said in a news release. “That hole presents a potential threat to homeland security and exacerbates the problem of identity theft.” Read more...

UNC system will have to accomodate 300,000 by 2017

North Carolina's university system must undergo massive planning to accommodate up to 300,000 students by the year 2017. In the next ten years the annual high school graduation rate is expected to increase by 30,000 students, and almost 22,000 of those will be Latino students.

New programs and methods must be implemented to allow the university system to be flexible and accommodate the growth. Read more from the news release from today with remarks from UNC President Erskine Bowles...

News and Observer
March 15, 2007
Jane Stancill, Staff Writer

UNC system plans for growth

GREENVILLE - By 2017, the number of students enrolled in North Carolina’s public universities could reach nearly 300,000, with no majority race among high school graduates by then.

The future UNC system will be substantially bigger and more diverse, according to projections presented today to the UNC Board of Governors.

The trends are startling. During the next decade, the number of annual high school graduates in North Carolina is expected to grow by 30,000 — and almost 22,000 of those are Latino students.

“That will change this university,” said UNC President Erskine Bowles. Read more...

NC to help counties comply with immigrant translation services

NC will help counties with issues related to language translation to comply with federal regulations requiring that interpreters or documents in other languages be provided. This has become a controversial issue as the immigrant population continues to increase and some citizens claim will help illegal immigrants...

Charlotte Observer
Febuary 18, 2007
Danica Coto

N.C. aids immigrants with language issues
Critics dispute changes they say will help illegal immigrants

North Carolina is making it easier for non-English speakers to file complaints about language barriers and get quicker results, but taxpayers are questioning the move. The push for change comes after a study found that most N.C. social service agencies and health departments -- strapped by resources -- could be violating federal law by not providing interpreters or documents in other languages.

State officials expect to contract with a telephone translation service soon and make it available to 50 counties that haven't been able to afford the program, said Carlotta Dixon, civil rights compliance coordinator for the N.C. Division of Social Services. Mecklenburg already has the service.

Requiring counties to provide translation services, especially smaller, cash-strapped ones, is a touchy subject, Dixon said. "The first thing we'll hear," she said, "is that we're wasting taxpayers' money."

More than 363,000 people in North Carolina who speak another language at home say they don't speak English very well, a 22 percent jump from 2000 to 2005, according to the U.S. Census. Read more...

Not in English? Not in our county...

Have you been following the debate over adopting two languages of choice because of the rapid influx of immigrants? Here's an interesting development in Beaufort, NC, about the Beaufort county commisioners ordering removal of non-English signs and informational material from area county offices and property to keep english as the language of choice in that area.

It will be a cold day in the triangle area when this happens here since there are so many non-english speaking residents moving into the central part of the state.

Here's an exerpt from the news article...

News and Observer - February 18, 2007
Jerry Allegood, Staff Writer

WASHINGTON, N.C. - In what supporters call a move against bilingualism, the Beaufort County Commissioners have ordered the removal of non-English signs and informational material from offices and property under county jurisdiction.

The English-only policy, approved by a 6 to 1 vote, does not apply to programs mandated by the state and federal governments, including health and social services. But supporters said it would indicate local resolve to stop the weakening of English as a result of legal and illegal immigration.

"I'm concerned about the drift toward the nation becoming bilingual," said Hood L. Richardson, a commissioner who proposed the local measure. "We need to stop that." Read more...