Easton City Council and Mayor Sal Panto have unanimously adopted a nonbinding resolution calling for state legislation that will make it possible for undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli called a news conference June 2, calling on other municipalities to ignore what he calls a "bad public policy."

Calling the actions of Easton "misguided and uninformed," he chided its council and mayor for failing to seek input from the law enforcement community. He called it a spur of the moment decision that was passed without much thought.

"[T]he fact is that this kind of initiative is an invitation to terrorists and criminals to come to your jurisdiction," he said.

Driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants are currently only available in a handful of states. It started in New Mexico in 2009, but Gov. Suzanna Martinez is leading an effort to repeal the law on the basis that it leads to fraud, human trafficking and organized crime. Seventy-two percent of New Mexico voters were opposed to this law in a 2010 survey.

According to Morganelli, New Mexico has become a magnet for illegal immigrants who have moved there from as far away as China, just so they can get a driver's license.

According to Panto, many undocumented immigrants came here legally, but stayed after their visas expired. He added that the vast majority of them are "good people who work hard to provide for their family."

But at his news conference, Morganelli noted the resolution Easton passed would grant driver's licenses to the "vast majority" as well as criminals and terrorists.

Morganelli agreed that undocumented immigrants who came here as children might be entitled to relief, but that is a federal matter, not something for Easton City Council or even Northampton County, according to the DA.

"Local municipal government should not attempt to influence public policy in an area outside of their responsibility and which could have dire consequences and unintended results for law enforcement's responsibility to protect the public," he concluded.