Last month, when New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed a change in state law that would offer illegal immigrants the chance to obtain a driver’s license, the anti-illegal immigrant lobby went ballistic.

Fear-mongers like CNN commentator Lou Dobbs argued that such a policy would threaten national security. And James Tedisco, minority leader of the New York State Assembly, luridly declared: “Osama bin Laden is somewhere in a cave with his den of thieves and terrorists … saying, ‘Hey that governor’s really assisting us.’ ”

The hysteria even crept into last week’s Democratic presidential debate, when Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., waffled over supporting Spitzer’s proposal. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., interjected, trying to score points by saying the measure went “too far,” causing Clinton to say it was not “the best thing for any governor to do.”

Clinton’s initial instinct, to support the Spitzer measure, was one she should have unwaveringly stood behind. “What Gov. Spitzer is trying to do is fill the vacuum left by the failure of this administration to bring about comprehensive immigration reform,” she sensibly noted.

Spitzer is merely proposing to reinstate a policy that had been in place in New York before 2003. It is a policy that is currently in effect in eight other states. Spitzer has even revised his plan to create a three-tiered ID system that would distinguish between driver’s licenses issued to citizens and non-citizens. The Spitzer proposal, for instance, would not allow illegal immigrants to fly on U.S. airlines.

Anti-illegal immigrant commentators and politicians unfairly link immigrants from Latin America with the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. But none of those hijackers was from this hemisphere. Remember, 15 of the 19 were from Saudi Arabia.

What’s more, the driver’s license issue is irrelevant to the threat from terrorism. A driver’s license won’t magically let terrorists enter this country. And potential terrorists can enter the United States with a variety of valid foreign passports, as did Mohamed Atta and several of his co-conspirators.

While some claim that illegal immigrants pose a danger on the road, the fact is that high accident rates are more easily correlated with unlicensed drivers, who are also much more liable to leave the scene of an accident. Extending licenses to undocumented immigrants would have the effect of making the roads safer, and that should bring your insurance rates down.

Congress’ refusal to implement any procedure for illegal immigrants to be legitimate residents in the United States only has the effect of sending people underground. This lessens the possibility of such residents cooperating with law enforcement, which again makes us less safe.

Perhaps realizing it is impossible to deport 13 million illegals, an outspoken minority is intent on making it nearly impossible for them to take part in civil society. But such policies are not only unworkable and inhumane. They also greatly damage the economy. Witness the plight of Riverside, N.J., a town that implemented a laundry list of anti-immigrant legislation only to see its main streets deserted, devoid of significant commerce.

Illegal immigrants are here in great numbers, and it is unrealistic to think that they are going to go away. Contrary to myth, they are not draining our resources. In fact, they are doing work that helps middle-class America maintain its comfortable lifestyle.

In the process, we shouldn’t make their life miserable by taking away their driving privileges.

By doing so, we’d only be spiting ourselves.

Ed Morales is a contributor to the New York Times and Newsday and is the author of “Living in Spanglish” (St. Martin’s Press, 2002). He can be reached at pmproj [at] progressive [dot] org.