Politics & Power Quote by Joe Baca

The line is built to do political jujitsu: take an audience primed to hear “immigrant” and “security” as opposing ideas, then flip the pairing so the practical-sounding solution feels almost inevitable. Baca’s key move is the opening “In fact,” a tiny verbal badge that signals correction and competence, as if he’s brushing aside hysteria with paperwork. The phrase “allowing immigrants to have licenses” frames the policy as permission, not entitlement, softening resistance while implying a clear rulebook.

The intent is less about championing immigrants in moral terms than rebranding a liberalizing measure as a security upgrade. “Homeland security” is a post-9/11 shibboleth; invoking it is a deliberate appeal to the era’s dominant fear vocabulary. Baca’s subtext is blunt: undocumented status doesn’t erase presence, it erases visibility. If people drive, work, and live regardless, the state can either pretend they’re not there or create a system that produces records, addresses, identities, and points of contact.

“Track who is in our borders” is doing heavy lifting. It reassures skeptics that the government stays in control, while also normalizing surveillance as common sense. The claim invites a technocratic bargain: trade a measure of legal recognition for state legibility. Contextually, this fits the mid-2000s fights over REAL ID, driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, and the larger argument that public safety (insurance, testing, accountability) and national security can be aligned. It’s coalition language: a pro-immigrant policy sold in the dialect of enforcement.