Legal residents unaffected, illegals to have appropriate mark

Published Friday, May 20, 2005, in the San Francisco Chronicle

Senate panel OKs bill creating special license for illegal immigrants

By Lynda Gledhill
Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Sacramento -- Illegal immigrants would be able to get a specially
marked license that could be used for driving on California roads
under a bill that passed its first committee Thursday.

The measure would set up a two-tiered system for driver's licenses
in the state.

A recently approved federal law will require states, among other
things, to verify a person's legal residency status before issuing a
license that can be used for federal identification purposes, such
as boarding an airplane.

California will have to change its current licensing operations to
comply with that law, known as the Real ID Act. But the bill
approved Thursday goes one step further by putting in place a system
for illegal immigrants to get a license that is valid for driving
only, something that is permitted but not required by the federal
legislation.

For Sen. Gilbert Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, SB60 is the latest
incarnation of a yearslong effort to try to give illegal immigrants
the ability to drive legally in the state, which he says will make
roads safer for everyone. A bill doing just that was signed into law
in 2003 by Gov. Gray Davis, but Cedillo agreed to repeal the law
after the recall election.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a driver's license bill last
fall, saying he wanted licenses for illegal immigrants to have a
distinctive mark.

Cedillo said the federal government has given California clear rules
for developing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

"The collective will of the nation has spoken," he told the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee. "It's very strict and clear
and precise about who gets issued driver's licenses in this
country."

The committee passed the bill on an 8-5 partisan vote, with
Republican members opposed. Some Democrats also expressed concern
that Cedillo was moving too quickly and requested he bring the bill
back to committee as more details are worked out. The bill now goes
to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The federal measure was signed into law by President Bush on May 11,
and states have three years to comply with its provisions.

"There is a three-year prep time on this because it's complicated,"
said Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego. "It seems like there is
ample time to do this."

Margita Thompson, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, said state
action should wait until federal regulations are developed by the
Department of Homeland Security. The rules will detail what steps
states must take to comply with the new driver's license
requirements.

"Any state action would be premature," she said. "The regulations
will tell us what is possible, such as how to define a mark."

Committee members also were concerned that no one from the
Department of Motor Vehicles was present at the hearing to talk
about how the law would be implemented.

To try to prevent terrorists from getting driver's licenses, the
federal law sets minimum standards for protecting licenses from
counterfeiting, requires all applicants to present several types
of identification that show they are citizens or in the country
legally, and requires states to set up a national database to share
information about applicants.

Noncitizens in the country legally could get licenses by presenting
proper documentation.

Two states, Utah and Tennessee, provide driver's certificates, which
can't be used for official identification.

Opponents of Cedillo's bill pointed out that there is no requirement
that the state issue any type of license to illegal immigrants.

"There is no mandate," said Rick Oltman, western field coordinator
for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "The federal law
should not be looked at as a green light to move forward. At best,
it is a yellow light."


E-mail Lynda Gledhill at lgledhill@...


[BATN: See also:

New hurdles for illegal immigrant driver's licenses
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/24474

Editorial: Special driver's licenses better than nothing
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/24304

License bill to require states to verify immigration status
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/24245 ]