A quarter of the nation’s 50 states are or will soon be offering illegal immigrants a license to drive and because most are urban states an estimated 37 percent of the illegal population live in areas where the license is available, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
In a new report and during a Thursday conference, Pew said that 10 states, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.
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“Nearly 37 percent of unauthorized immigrants live in jurisdictions where they may obtain licenses,” said the top national polling and survey operation.
Also, Hawaii and Delaware have approved laws to provide the licenses and are developing their implementation plan.
States for years have been fighting over providing the licenses. Opponents charge that because the immigrants are in the United States illegally, they shouldn’t be given government authorization to drive. Proponents claim that since many are already driving, they should be licensed for legal reasons.
And the license is debated among the immigrant population, with many worried that by getting it, they open themselves up to deportation hearings.
The federal government requires that the licenses carry a marker that notes it is not a federal ID.
Michele Waslin, manager of Immigration and the States for Pew, said that there were 800,000 undocumented immigrants with driver’s licenses as of July 31. “I imagine the number is near 900,000 now,” she said at the conference titled, “Deciding Who Drives.”
California has been a leader in the issuing of licenses, spending $1.4 million to add staff and opening five new facilities. At the conference, Erika Contreras, chief of staff to a lawmaker who pushed to provide the licenses, said “our community is happy.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
