9 years ago
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Illinois may grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants
Illinois may soon become the most populous U.S. state to grant a form
of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, after the nation's growing
Hispanic population boosted the power of Democrats in national and state
elections on November 6.
A bipartisan group of
Illinois politicians announced on Tuesday they would propose such a law
when the legislature convenes on November 27.Washington state and New
Mexico are the only states that currently allow illegal immigrants to
get licenses. Utah allows driving permits. As the fifth most populous
state, Illinois would be the biggest state to adopt such a law.
A California law that
allows immigrants with federal work permits to receive driver's licenses
will take effect January 1, 2013.Supporters said the law
would be good for public safety, allowing Illinois immigrant motorists
to get tested on their driving skills and buy insurance.
"When you have a quarter
of a million undocumented drivers on the road, it's definitely a safety
concern," said Ron Holmes, spokesman for Illinois Senate President John
Cullerton, who is backing the measure along with fellow Democrats
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Former Illinois Governor
Jim Edgar, a popular Republican, joined Democrats at a news conference
in Chicago Tuesday to support the idea, as did Republican State
Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. It also has the support of the powerful
House Speaker, Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan, giving it a good chance
of passage.
The drive to pass the law follows the re-election of
Democratic President Barack Obama, Democratic gains in the U.S. Senate
and in the Illinois legislature with strong Hispanic support.
Since 2010, a handful of Republican-led states, notably border
state Arizona, passed laws cracking down on illegal immigrants. But
after this year's election, which saw an estimated 66 percent of
Hispanics vote for Obama, Democrats and Republicans have said they want
to work on an overhaul of federal immigration law.
Illinois, like California, elected a veto-proof Democratic
supermajority in the legislature this month, with Democrats now
controlling all branches of government.Unlicensed, uninsured drivers are involved in almost 80,000
accidents in Illinois each year, resulting in $660 million in damage,
according to the Illinois Highway Safety Coalition. Unlicensed immigrant
drivers cost $64 million in damage claims alone.
The Safety Coalition said on its website that since New Mexico
made the change in 2003, the rate of uninsured motorists fell from 33
percent to under 9 percent.New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, a Republican, has fought
to outlaw such licenses since she took office in January 2011. She has
argued that the state's law encouraged people to come to New Mexico from
other states just to obtain driver's licenses.
Holmes said supporters of the Illinois measure are talking
with law enforcement officials to make sure a license for undocumented
immigrants would not be used for fraud.
The measure would expand to undocumented immigrants Illinois'
existing temporary visitor driver's license, used by legal immigrants.
The licenses are "visually distinct" from ordinary licenses, with a
purple background and the words "not valid for identification" on the
front, explained Lawrence Benito, chief executive of the Illinois
Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
"This is a practical,
commonsense approach," said Benito. He said supporters have been talking
with Republicans in the legislature to try to get their support.
According to the 2010 U.S.
Census, the number of Latinos in Illinois was over 2 million, or nearly
16 percent of the population.
Republicans in Illinois who have objected to the proposed law in the past could not be reached for comment.
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