Arizona's lax driver-test rules lure foreigners
ktar.com
by Associated Press
September 24th, 2011 @ 5:42pm

PHOENIX — Arizona has become a magnet for foreigners who find it's an easier place to get a driver's license than in the states where they live, and authorities say that's raising public-safety and national-security concerns.

Arizona has more permissive rules than any other state governing who can get a license, how they can get it and how long the license is valid before it expires. Hundreds of people come to Arizona from stricter states seeking driving credentials.

Immigrant-rights advocates say Arizona provides an essential service for people who are in the country legally, often as refugees. They know how to drive a car but are unable to get a license in their home states because they can't pass a written test in English and translators aren't allowed.

But officials from other states say Arizona may be a pipeline for dangerously unqualified drivers. Also, some federal officials and homeland-security advocates warn that Arizona is vulnerable to propagating identity fraud and is notorious as a place for criminals to get fake licenses.

With numerous seasonal and other part-time residents, Arizona lacks a residency requirement for people seeking licenses. Applicants for an initial license need to pass a written and road test administered by the Motor Vehicle Division, or they need to pass a certification test by a private, state-licensed school.

Applicants with permanent addresses in other states can use translators to help them with the MVD's written tests. An Arizona license is typically valid until the holder turns 65. In the case of legal foreign residents, licenses expire with their visas.

Arizona does require applicants to document their legal presence in the country, and the Arizona Department of Transportation has tighter standards than many states in the documents required to prove lawful presence, ADOT and a national watchdog group say.

But no other state has a longer renewal period, offers adults a proxy exam at a private school or issues out-of-of state licenses like Arizona, said Brian Zimmer, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, which wants to reduce ID fraud with tighter document security.

"The word is out on the East Coast: There are certain states you go to get an easy license, and Arizona is one of them," Zimmer told the Arizona Republic ( ).

The spotlight has turned on Arizona's out-of-state licenses because of an ongoing Massachusetts investigation where the licenses of 124 Somali refugees were suspended.

Authorities discovered the problem when the Somalis, who had failed a written test to get a license in Massachusetts, tried to exchange their Arizona licenses for Massachusetts credentials. Massachusetts allows exchanges without a written test.

However, Arizona officials do not believe their licensing system is widely abused. ADOT issued more than 3,900 out-of-state licenses in the past fiscal year.

"I don't think there is any cause for alarm," said Stacey Stanton, director of ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division. "There's nothing to indicate anything nefarious in this activity."

But Zimmer and others warn that Arizona is ripe for abuse.

"Nationally, it is common knowledge among those who follow these things that Arizona's system can be manipulated," said Vincent Picard, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix, which is advising ADOT on how to spot document fraud.

ADOT earlier this year launched an investigation into private driving schools in the state, officials said.

Zimmer's group, the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, said New Mexico is another state known for laxity.

Last month, a state grand jury returned a 300-felony-count indictment against an Albuquerque woman who was accused of creating fake residency documents to help illegal immigrants get driver's licenses in that state, according to a statement from the New Mexico governor's office.

Zimmer's group said New Mexico is one of a dozen states that has met 10 or fewer of the 18 requirements under the 2005 REAL ID Act, a key post-9/11 legislation designed to eliminate the identity vulnerabilities exploited by the attackers.

Arizona, which has met 12 requirements, is one of a dozen other states with fewer than 14 in place.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

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