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New Mexico bill would issue separate driver’s permits to illegal immigrants
By Liz Goodwin liz Goodwin – Wed Feb 2, 4:50 pm ET
New Mexican lawmakers are moving to end the state's reputation as a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants. On Monday, Governor Susana Martinez issued an executive order to let police ask about the immigration status of people they arrest. On the same day, a lawmaker introduced one of two laws being considered to end the state's policy of giving out drivers licenses without asking for proof of legal residency.
New Mexico is one of only two states that requires no proof of legal residency (like a Social Security card or a visa) to obtain a driver's license. New Mexico Rep. Andy Nunez, a one-time Democrat who defected from the Party this month, introduced a bill earlier this month to reverse the 2003 law and require everyone to prove they're a legal resident.
"People have been abusing it," Nunez tells The Lookout. "Some people are bringing carloads of people who are getting...driver's licenses and then they go [back] to the other state where they came from."
An Associated Press analysis found that immigrant applications for licenses in New Mexico, Utah and Washington surged 60 percent in the weeks following the passage of Arizona's immigration law, suggesting that people may have been coming from out of state seeking valid ID. It's tricky to say how many of those people were not authorized to be in the country, however, because the states group legal immigrants and illegal immigrants' applications together.
Republican State Rep. Bill Rehm of Albuquerque told The Daily Times' Milan Simonich that there's no way Nunez's law will pass the Democratic-controlled House or Senate. He's devised a different, more politically palatable bill that would invalidate all driver's licenses given to foreign nationals by Jan 1 of next year. Illegal immigrants have until that day to apply for a yearly "permit," which only gives them the right to drive in the state. The permit wouldn't work as a government-issued I.D. to board a plane or buy alcohol, for example, as a driver's license does.
University of Arizona Law Professor Gabriel Chin tells The Lookout the plan seems like a good way to address license fraud without altogether taking away driving privileges from illegal immigrants. "To leave an opportunity for people to drive legally in the state who can't prove citizenship is better than the alternative," he says. The argument for letting illegal immigrants drive legally is they then have to buy car insurance and pass driving tests before they get their licenses, which makes the roads safer.
Utah has a permit system, as well, while Washington is the only other state that gives driver's licenses to people without proof of legal status. About ten states reversed laws that let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses in the past five years.