http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2624540
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Oh my .. now I have posted a duplicate .. shouldn't post so late

Please see Husker's post of same at http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-1094.html

Both stories will remain on the board, even though duplicates, because both have forum member comments. Me bad.
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Driving cards force some tough choices for undocumented workers:
One longtime resident plans to return to Mexico rather than give up her driver license

American dream gone: One longtime resident plans to return to Mexico rather than give up her driver license
By Jennifer W. Sanchez
The Salt Lake Tribune


Hilda Werner cuddles her dog Simba this month at her Layton home. Werner says she will return to her native Mexico rather than submit to the new law requiring her to get a driving privilege card. "I don't want to get a 'permission' to drive," she said. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)

In 1990, Hilda Werner spent roughly $7,000 to be smuggled into California, where she and her two young boys ran across the U.S.-Mexico border in the rain.

She got the money by selling her Mexico City apartment, but it wasn't enough to bring along her two young daughters. Werner, who worked as a city bus driver in Mexico, said she wanted to move to the United States because she heard women had more rights and she could get a better-paying job.

"I wanted to do better in my country, but they didn't let me do that," said Werner, an undocumented resident who moved to Utah in 1993. "As a single mom, I wanted to give opportunities to my kids."

But now, 15 years later, she is giving up her American dream and returning to Mexico because, Werner says, she is tired of working hard and still being treated like a second-class citizen. The last straw was Utah's new law that denies a driver license to undocumented immigrants and provides instead a driving privilege card.

Among Utah's community of undocumented residents, Werner's decision might be unusual. But it illustrates the angst and hard feelings caused by Utah's new law, part of a national trend of anti-immigrant legislation passed across the country in recent years, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The new law: The Utah law, prompted by Senate Bill 227, allows only people with a Social Security number to get a state identification card or driver license, leaving residents who have a U.S. visa - and roughly 60,000 undocumented residents - with only one alternative: If they want to drive legally in Utah, they need to get a driving card. But the card is not valid as a form of official identification at any government entity, though some banks and auto insurance agents are accepting it.

Most supporters of SB227 cited a legislative audit that showed the state issued roughly 95,000 driver licenses or ID cards to undocumented U.S. residents from 1999 to 2004. Of those people, 383 registered to vote and 14 allegedly voted in the last election.

A driving card will look similar to a driver license, but instead of "Utah Driver License" in white lettering, it will say "Utah Driving Privilege Card" in red, said Jill Laws, the driver license division's records bureau chief. Driving cards also will say "Driving privilege only not valid ID for UT govt entity" in red lettering. Werner, 44, said she is hurt and frustrated that the state would take away her license even though she has been "a good person" and driver.

"I have so much dignity. I don't want to get a 'permission' to drive," she said shaking her head. "I feel like I am being put down."

Like many other undocumented residents, Werner said her license makes her feel "secure" and part of the community. Without it, she'll feel "useless." Werner is scared that people might discriminate against her if she uses a driving card as a form of identification to write a check. She said she feels like she doesn't belong here any longer.

"I used to believe in this country, in the U.S., but not anymore," Werner said, sitting in the two-bedroom manufactured home she rents in Davis County. "I don't see a future here," she said.

Around the country: Almost 11 million undocumented people - including more than 6 million from Mexico - live in the United States, according to an analysis of U.S. government figures by the Pew Hispanic Center, a private research group in Washington, D.C.

To try to deal with the steady growth of undocumented workers, federal and state lawmakers across the nation have approved or are debating bills that affect the workers and their families.

In Tennessee, a 2004 law provides a certificate of driving for people who have "temporary, legal documents" from the U.S. government or for those who can't show proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.

In Arizona, voters last November approved Proposition 200, which requires people to show proof that they are legal U.S. residents when they apply for certain types of state-funded public benefits, including the state's welfare and energy-assistance programs, and requires state employees to report undocumented residents to federal immigration authorities.

In Congress, House Resolution 418, known as the Real ID Act, would ensure that states require people show proof they are legally allowed to reside in the United States to get a driver license. It was approved in the U.S. House and is pending in the Senate.

Barbara Melendez, a BYU immigration-law professor and Salt Lake City attorney, said several anti-immigration measures are pushed through by lawmakers and supporters who want to protect U.S. borders and secure the nation from any other terrorist attacks, but "it's expanded to such a degree that it's become an anti-immigrant" environment.

Instead, Melendez said people need to recognize that undocumented residents work and live here and will always be here because there will always be jobs for them.

"We can't have blinders on," she said. "Our nation cannot survive economically if all the immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally were suddenly deported."

But Barry Hatch, a member of Save America, a Utah anti-illegal immigration group, said the United States needs to close its borders and follow federal immigration laws. Undocumented migrants are breaking the law and should be sent back to their countries, he said.

Hatch, a 67-year-old retired teacher, said he can't believe the Legislature passed a law that recognizes undocumented residents and gives them the right to drive. Without changing and enforcing laws, he said "illegals" will continue to come to the Unites States to take advantage of social programs and a free education.

"They're replacing everything we've created. We have a nation to save, to protect," Hatch said. "The more you give, they'll keep coming and coming until we don't have any food or money left."

Melendez said she expects more Latino community leaders and members will get involved in the political process.

"This just means that we all just need to stay on our toes and make sure we are taking a much more proactive role with lobbying our legislators," she said.

Getting a driving card: Horacio, a 28-year-old undocumented immigrant, moved from Mexico with his three brothers to Salt Lake City 13 years ago. Horacio, who is married and has three kids, got his Utah driver license about 18 months ago.

"When I got my driver license, I was proud," he said. "I could drive without having to worry about the police or breaking the law."

Horacio, who gave only his first name, said he is unclear about the new law, but he will trade in his license for a driving card because he needs to drive to his two full-time jobs. He works as a restaurant cook for about $10 an hour.

But he is concerned that the card is being used as a way to "brand" undocumented workers. He also fears that bank or grocery store workers might report people with a driving card to immigration agents.

"With this card, they're going to separate us and know we're illegal," he said in Spanish.

Despite that, Horacio said there's no way he's going back to Mexico to raise his family. Here, he has been able to work and get paid enough to buy a five-bedroom house.

In Mexico, he said, "the way of life is not the same. They don't pay us well. It's not enough money to live on. Here, everything is great. By working my two jobs, I have more than enough money to live."

Werner and her husband plan to leave Utah in May.

She said she doesn't understand why people in Utah seem to hate immigrants, who she says are just trying to make a better life for themselves. Werner, who married a U.S. citizen four years ago, said she is giving up on trying to obtain legal status because of the long process and confusing paperwork as well as the new anti-immigrant laws popping up across the country.

"It's too much wait. I don't want to suffer anymore," she said. "I can't do this anymore."