Thread: New life for immigrant licenses

New life for immigrant licenses

Martinez: Amended bill heading to Senate is 'a sham'

The New Mexican
Posted: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 - 3/9/11

On a 6-5 vote, a powerful Senate committee on Tuesday voted to return to New Mexico's current policy of issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. The Senate Judiciary Committee accomplished the change by removing language in House Bill 78, which the House passed last week after two grueling days of debate.

HB 78, sponsored by Andy Nuñez, I-Hatch, now goes to the Senate floor, where some legislators predict a knock-down, drag-out fight in which proponents of the ban will try to add it back in.

Tuesday's action not only sets up a potentially big fight between the Senate and the House but also with Gov. Susana Martinez, who has made ending the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants a legislative priority.

Martinez showed her displeasure in a scorching statement issued Tuesday night.

"The bill in its current form is a sham and insults the intelligence of every New Mexican who wants to see this dangerous law overturned," Gov. Susana Martinez said in a news release.

New Mexico is one of three states that allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, although Utah provides permits that do not double as government identification. Earlier this week in Washington state, immigrants-rights' advocates beat back an attempt to stop that state's practice of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, told his colleagues Tuesday that overturning the policy would hurt families and suggested a compromise several senators had worked on.

But Sen. John Ryan, R-Albuquerque, called the changes window dressing. "Republicans may have insisted on the cameras being here, but the Democrats have made this a show," Ryan said, referring to the bank of TV cameras set up to record Tuesday's debate.

People are using New Mexico to get fraudulent licenses, Ryan said.

Critics of New Mexico's driver's license program also have pointed to national security concerns with the state's policy, but Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, questioned that line of attack. "I'm trying to call the bluff on people who say this is about terrorism," Griego said. "If this is really about terrorism, this bill will take care of 95 percent of their concerns."

The changes the Senate Judiciary Committee made to Nuñez's bill effectively keeps the current policy in place, with a few additions.

It would become a fourth-degree felony to falsify documents used to receive a driver's license and a third-degree felony for a state worker who helps anyone receive a driver's license through fraudulent means.

Also, license holders who are illegal immigrants would have to re-apply for a driver's license within two years or lose their license.

About 80,000 foreign nationals have New Mexico driver's licenses, although it's unclear how many are in the U.S. illegally.

Nuñez wasn't happy about the changes. "I'm looking at how much is gutted," he told the senators.

Nuñez and others sought to change the policy, in part because of fraud discovered in the program.

The state's new Taxation and Revenue Secretary, Demesia Padilla, told lawmakers more than 4,300 applicants have been denied driver's licenses because of faulty documentation since her agency started requiring appointments for foreign nationals who seek driver's licenses.

But Alvan Romero, a tax-fraud investigator for the state agency, acknowledged in questioning by Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, that the number of licenses involved in various fraudulent schemes numbered "in the hundreds" over two years.

But more than numbers, the debate over New Mexico's driver's license program has come down to people and how they might be affected.

"In the gospels we hear about the Good Samaritan," said Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops. "The Good Samaritan is an immigrant. This bill lacks compassion for those who are living here. They are here. They are our neighbors."

A wheelchair-bound Albert Lino of Las Cruces, meanwhile, reduced the room to utter silence. Lino told lawmakers that his wife is an undocumented worker.

"I don't drive," said Lino, who then broke down in sobs. "Sorry," he said, waving his hand.

"What do I do? I need her," Lino asked state lawmakers. "These immigrants, they are not the same. People say they leave. Not everybody is the same. We can be more human, that's all I have to say."

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or at tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local% ... t-licenses

NM senate judiciary committee home page

http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/committeedis ... eeCode=HJC