Maryland lawmakers are set to duke it out this week over whether illegal immigrants should be able to get state driver’s licenses.
A bill in the Senate would require the state to issue licenses only to citizens or others who are in the country legally.
A House bill would create two sets of licenses, one for citizens and those legally in the state, and another that would allow illegal immigrants who have a current license to renew. The bill would not allow illegal immigrants to obtain a new license as of April 19.
Supporters of the House bill said it was a practical compromise that took into consideration that there were drivers who fell “into a special category” — illegal immigrants who have been in Maryland for several years, don’t plan on leaving, and need to drive around lawfully.
Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley had indicated he backed the Senate’s bill. But Republican lawmakers accused the governor and other Democratic leaders of misrepresenting their true intentions.
“To indicate to the citizens of Maryland that you’re going to pass a lawful presence standard … and then to backdoor it at the 11th hour with a two-tier driver’s license system that allows amnesty for those who are here illegally to continue to have a Maryland state driver’s license in perpetuity, is the worst kind of bait and switch legislative tactic that exists in an open democracy,” said House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell, R-Calvert.
Republicans said they were “led astray” into voting the House’s bill out of committee based on assurances from Democrats that they weren’t supporting a two-tier system.
“This is incontrovertibly a two-tiered bill,” said House Minority Whip Christopher Shank, R-Washington County.
O’Donnell said Republicans were concerned that Democrats would try to alter the Senate bill, which is set to be discussed Monday, to match the House bill.
Republicans said the public in Maryland and in other states clearly didn’t want a two-tiered driver’s license system, and pointed to an about-face on the issue by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer two years ago as proof that the idea is politically toxic.
Proponents of the Senate bill say Maryland’s lax stance on issuing driver’s licenses makes it an inviting target for fraud. Only three other states don’t require an applicant to prove citizenship or legal status to obtain a driver’s license.
But fans of the House bill said allowing illegal immigrants to have a license helped keep auto insurance rates down and helped police find the people they need to investigate crimes.
