Customized ‘Wetback’ plate has some questioning Motor Vehicle Division’s judgement
In New Mexico, a person can get prestige/customized plates for their vehicle by filling out a form and paying a small yearly fee.
According to the Motor Vehicle Division of New Mexico, “a requested character set may be rejected if it duplicates any existing plate; the division finds it to be derogatory or obscene; or it falsely states or implies the vehicle or the driver represents the authority of a governmental agency or official.”
A license plate in Las Cruces has some questioning the state’s judgement of what is considered, “derogatory or obscene”.
The plate reads “WETBACK.”
The man who owns the truck with the plates moved to Las Cruces from Mexico years ago, his name is Vincente Mediola.
We spoke with Mediola about why he got the plate, “My in laws used to call me the wetback, so I said, well that’s funny and cute so why not”.
Mediola says people regularly compliment the plate, and he thinks it gives many a good laugh, but others don’t like it, “there was a white lady, about three months ago, and she stopped me and said, your license plate stinks, I said well thank you”, recounts Mediola.
ABC-7 wanted to learn more about what the state deems ‘derogatory or obscene’, and reached out to the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division about Mediola’s plate. Tiffany Smyth, Taxypayer Advocate with the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division responded with the following statement, “This plate is clearly derogatory. It should not have been approved for a custom license plate. We are in the process of recalling the plate. In 2013, the Department took steps to improve the custom plate approval process. The plate in question was approved before these new policies were put in place. The process calls for vanity plate requests to be reviewed by our vehicles section staff and management. Should a questionable request be received, it is elevated to the Director’s Office for review. The Director consults with his or her leadership staff to determine if the request should be approved or denied”.
We have not been able to reach Mediola about the the MVD’s plans of ‘recalling the plate.’
