Understandably, the emphasis on the just-revealed Rhode Island DMV fake ID scandal is on how a “valid” driver’s license can help an individual avoid some unpleasant questions about their citizenship and/or “activities”:

Dolores Rodriguez-LaFlamme, 40, of Providence, and Soraya Santiago, 42, of Pawtucket, are accused of working with two “middlemen,” who were paid about $2,500 to $3,000 by each person who wanted a valid Rhode Island license — with a fake identity.
A valid license is a desirable item to have, especially if you’ve been deported and have illegally reentered the country, or if you’re wanted by the police. The valid license stops the police from further questioning someone’s immigration status, because the license assumes an identity has been established. And a person can hide their true identity when their photo is matched with a fake name and birth date on a real ID.
State Police Capt. Stephen Lynch said the word was out on the streets among people involved in illegal activities about the scam.

That’s plenty to get steamed over. {UPDATE – Monique has distilled it down nicely: “By the way, thanks much to both the DMV dime-dropper and to the Rhode Island State Police for breaking up a serious criminal enterprise undertaken in a publicly funded building with publicly funded supplies carried out by publicly funded state employees.”} Oh, but there’s so much more. We also learn that LaFlamme shouldn’t have even been in the U.S., much less working for the RI State government!:

LaFlamme had been previously ordered deported to the Dominican Republic after her application for adjusted status was denied following an investigation into two fraudulent marriages, according to a court affidavit. LaFlamme is appealing the deportation order.

OK, so she’s appealing the order, but still….
Finally, what to make of LaFlamme’s interesting political ties.

LaFlamme is well-known in the politically active Latino community in Providence…One is State Rep. Anastasia Williams, who said she is “devastated” by the news of LaFlamme’s arrest. They’re both members of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Labor Council for Latin-American Advancement; Williams is chairwoman and LaFlamme is the treasurer….
LaFlamme has also been involved “with a lot of different [political] campaigns,” Williams said, including for Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, the campaign of U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and for Providence City Councilman Nicholas Narducci Jr. (Whitehouse and Cicilline didn’t return calls last night.)
…LaFlamme ran unsuccessfully for Democrat Ward 4 Committee, promising “A New Beginning.” She also volunteered for a neighborhood crime watch, neighborhood cleanups, Williams said, and with “every community — the Italian community, the Latino community, the African-American community.”
…LaFlamme was also the face of the DMV at the 2006 Latino Expo held at the Rhode Island Convention Center last September. During an “Ask projoCars!” seminar, LaFlamme was a co-presenter. The topic? “How to Save Time at the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

I wonder if bribing her was one of her “tips”? Williams is quoted in the story as feeling as if she’s “been punked” by LaFlamme and other associates are also surprised by all of this. No doubt.
But then, I wonder. Here we have an obviously tuned-in Democratic Party partisan who work(ed) at the state DMV making fake ID’s for illegal immigrants and felon’s. I wonder how many of them voted? Or if LaFlamme also made up some “Motor Voter” IDs for other non-U.S. citizens.