Als einziger Kandidat trat er für das Recht der Einwanderer ohne Papiere ein, einen legalen Führerschein zu erwerben – ein Vorschlag, der bei vielen Wählern schlecht ankam. Obwohl der ehemalige Gouverneur Eliot Spitzer erst durch einen Prostituiertenring zu Fall kam, erwies sich sein Plan, Führerscheine für illegale Immigranten in New York zuzulassen – was den meisten Experten zufolge für die Verkehrssicherheit äußerst sinnvoll wäre –, als seine erste Fehleinschätzung.
The most recent Congressional legislation makes the path to citizenship almost as difficult as the trip across the border, and all three candidates supported that bill. If looking for courage on immigration, however, Senator Obama, the son of an African father and an American mother, might have more than the others. He’s been the only candidate to defend the right of the undocumented to get a legal driver’s license – a proposal unpopular with many voters. Although it took a prostitution ring to bring the former Governor Eliot Spitzer down, his plan to give illegal immigrants the undocumented in New York driving licenses—what most experts say makes a whole lot of sense in terms of safer highways -- proved his first miscalculation. Even the then popular leader had to shelve it.