But a federal overhaul of state driver’s licenses could give Oregon the chance to grant driving privileges to Alvarez and the state’s estimated 100,000 undocumented illegal immigrants. Legislators are considering a measure expanding driver’s license access to all in Oregon regardless of immigration status, as long as they pass their driver’s test and meet other DMV requirements.
“Driver’s licenses are such a core, basic need for families,” said Andrea Williams, executive director of the immigration rights group Causa. “While we may disagree what to do federally about immigration reform, families should not be separated over a traffic stop.”
Twelve states, plus the District of Columbia, currently provide driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status.
Oregon’s implementation of the 2005 federal Real ID Act, said Williams, is an opportune moment for the state to also make such a change. The Real ID Act, passed after 9/11, sets minimum security standards for all state IDs and requires that these enhanced IDs be presented to enter federal buildings and board domestic flights without a passport.
The Department of Homeland Security allows states to issue non-compliant cards for those who don’t have the documentation to prove their lawful presence in the country, including victims of domestic violence and those experiencing homelessness.
Oregon, like many other states, will create a two-tier identification system and issue both Real IDs and standard driver’s licenses, which are federally non-compliant.
Immigration rights advocates are pushing the Legislature to drop citizenship as a requirement for standard driver’s licenses, which would allow undocumented illegal immigrants to legally drive. At least 12 other states are considering a similar measure.
Via the AP.