Thread: Barriers keep immigrants from driving legally

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/ne ... 863398.htm

Posted on Mon, Oct. 10, 2005

Barriers keep immigrants from driving legally

BUT MANY ARE ON ROADS ANYWAY

By Steve Lannen And Cassondra Kirby

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITERS


Each day thousands of Kentuckians break the law when they drop their children off at school or drive to work.

They drive without a recognized driver's license not because they are scofflaws, but because state law says they can't have one. That's the case for thousands of undocumented immigrants who work at horse farms, factories and businesses in Lexington and throughout the Bluegrass.

It is also difficult, if not nearly impossible, for them to get driver's training or secure a driver's manual in their native language to learn the rules of the road in their new country.

Last week's wreck in downtown Lexington that caused the death of a Mexican man, who police say didn't have a valid driver's license, highlights one of the many obstacles that are a part of life for undocumented immigrants. It also exposes a disconnect between official policy and the reality for many that involves daily driving, licensed or not.

"How are you going to get to work? Walk?" Mario Barrios said Thursday night as he sat in his Chevy Silverado.

For 10 years, the Mexican man has lived in the United States, the past eight in Lexington. He works at a horse farm and is married to a U.S. citizen, but he can't get a driver's license.

A few years ago, Barrios tried to get a Kentucky license at the Lexington office downtown. Officials there told him he needed to show a Mexican passport and a visa showing he entered the U.S. legally.

"They said, 'Before 9/11, maybe. Now, no way,'" he said.

Laws in many states, including Kentucky, were tightened in the months after the terrorist attacks.

Barrios said he didn't have the documents he needed. "I live here now," he said.

Police enforcement

When Manuel Hernandez sees a police car behind him in traffic, he gets butterflies.

He never drinks when he drives, and he's careful to obey all the laws and extra careful when police are around. Still, the Guatemalan wonders what will happen if he's pulled over. Will they accept his Guatemalan driver's license or other identification? Will he get a ticket for not having a valid driver's license?

"It's a risk," he said. But, "it's reality."

According to state law, all non-U.S. citizens may drive in the country on their valid foreign driver's license for up to one year after they come here. After that, they are expected to get a U.S. driver's license -- something that's impossible to do for the undocumented immigrant.

On the street, police can't easily trust the identification they are given during a traffic stop, Lexington Police Chief Anthany Beatty said. Some give fake names or use false identification, so there is no way to verify who they are, he said.

Most officers let unlicensed drivers drive off with a warning or $185.50 ticket, but others will take them in to better verify who they claim to be.

Once a case reaches the courts, it's difficult to guarantee a defendant will show up. And those who do show up to court don't receive much more than a slap on the wrist, according to court officials.

Assistant Fayette County Attorney Jack Miller said there is no legal way in Kentucky to charge a driver who consistently refuses to get a license.

"There's no way to monitor how many times they've been here," he said.

Some can be arrested if they don't have auto insurance.

That's what happened to Pablo Jimenez, who arrived five years ago from a pueblo in Mexico's Oaxaca state.

"They took me to jail for a little while," Jimenez, 27, said. "The fines were going to be over a thousand dollars." After obtaining insurance and renewing the vehicle's registration, Jimenez paid about $250 in fines.

Insurance companies such as Safe Auto will insure immigrants as long as they have a valid license from their country. It doesn't matter if they are undocumented, said Jene Taylor, a Safe Auto sales representative.

Now Jimenez pays about $75 a month to insure his Mercury minivan. Still, he tries not to drive much other than to work or to shop because he has only a Mexican license.

It's unclear whether Jorge Lopez-Santizo had insurance on his van when it crashed last week, but the vehicle was legally registered in Lopez's name. Still, Lopez did not have a valid license, according to police. The van collided with a Lexington police cruiser driven by off-duty officer Ronnelius Arnold on Oct. 2 in downtown Lexington.

Lopez died in the wreck. Police ruled that the van was at fault for running a red light, despite some witnesses who said the contrary. Like many immigrants, Lopez drove regularly, including to work, during the nearly six years he lived in Lexington.

No verification

All the while, nothing is done to educate or help those without a license. And there is no way to verify whether people have been taught how to drive.

There are no exact figures, but Barrios estimates maybe half of immigrants begin driving here.

"There's a lot who came here from Mexico that didn't drive there, but drive here," he said. "They're the ones who get into crashes."

On Thursday, a clerk in the driver's license office in Fayette County wrinkled his forehead when asked for a driver's manual in Spanish.

Getting a Spanish manual to study is practically impossible. The office hasn't had any for three weeks, clerks said.

Beatty said undocumented immigrants, at the very least, need to be informed of the rules of the road and public transportation options.

"We cannot just say that this new part of our community is here and we are not going to worry about them, because it impacts every one of us in some fashion," Beatty said. "I know there are going to be those saying we shouldn't spend money to educate someone who is not documented, we shouldn't spend money to allow people to get cars and to have licenses, but the fact is they are here, and they are driving cars, and some of them don't have licenses."

Still, most doubt there will be a change in policy any time soon in a post-9/11 world.

Cindy Vanhoose, supervisor of driver's license offices in Lexington and the eastern part of the state, doesn't think issuing illegal immigrants driver's licenses is the answer. Vanhoose said it wouldn't be fair to those immigrants who put in the time and money to come here legally, and it opens a gateway of access to those who could be terrorists.

State Rep. Mike Weaver, who wrote and pushed the 2002 state legislation that made it more difficult for immigrants to get a Kentucky driver's license, agreed.

"Once they have a driver's license, they can hide among us indefinitely," he said.

But the Rev. Patrick Delahanty of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky says the current law makes it easier for people to hide.

"We have no idea whether they know what a stop sign is or don't know what a stop sign is. We've created a situation where they're not going to show up to show us. They're not going to take a driver test. They're not going to study the law of Kentucky and not have insurance," he said.

In 2002, Delahanty filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation asking for an investigation into whether it illegally discriminates against immigrants by setting more burdensome requirements for acquiring driver's licenses. He said he still has not received an answer.

Josh Santana, president of the Lexington Hispanic Association, acknowledges the concern over terrorism and security, but he doesn't think stricter laws are the answer.

Having people who are not tested or licensed for driving is "a bigger public safety issue than the possibility someone might use that for some type of terror attack," he said.

He never drinks when he drives, and he's careful to obey all the laws and extra careful when police are around.

Wow. What a guy! What a sacrifice!

Give this man a license so he can drive drunk and break the traffic laws.

It's his right as an illegal alien invader. Obviously, we have a serious breach of his civil rights here.

I would suggest that Kentucky law enforcement start doing some licenses checks in the area of some of the schools AND WRITE MORE TICKETS AND TAKE MORE TO JAIL.

Oh my gosh, these poor people.

I think the government should provide a free taxi service for them so they can get to their jobs safely.

We should also make fresh donuts and coffee available for them so they feel welcome in our country.