Bill barring illegals from licenses goes to a vote

Farmington Daily Times
March 4, 2011
By Milan Simonich
SANTA FE, NM

The House of Representatives today will vote on a bill that would bar illegal immigrants from obtaining state driver's licenses.

The proposal survived two raucous preliminary votes and nearly six hours of debate Thursday by the 70-member House.

Rep. Andy Nunez, sponsor of the bill, predicted it would now clear the House with ease.

"We'll get even more votes than we had today," said Nunez, an independent from Hatch.

He said a sizable majority of House members support his bill to overturn the 2003 law allowing applicants to obtain driver's licenses without proof of immigration status.

But, Nunez said, a number of them were reluctant to vote for the extraordinary process that "blasted" his bill out of legislative committees and straight to the House floor.

Democrats complained that they had never seen anything like the tactic that Nunez used, and said it dishonored the longstanding process in which bills are heard in committees.

Though Democrats hold a majority in the House, Nunez's bill survived and advanced on two separate votes, both 36-34.

Two Democrats broke ranks to join Nunez and all 33 Republicans in supporting the bill.

The Democrats who helped Nunez were Dona Irwin of Deming and Sandra Jeff of Crownpoint.

"I vote my conscience and I vote for my district," Irwin said afterward.

During the floor debate, Jeff said House Speaker Ben Lujan's chief of staff tried to intimidate her into voting against Nunez's bill. She asked for an apology from Lujan's aide, Regis Pecos, who stood by placidly.

Nunez said the tactics used against Jeff were unacceptable but not unusual.

"Regis tried to strong-arm her," Nunez said. "He's done that to me on other bills."

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez supports Nunez's bill as means of strengthening border and national security.

Martinez also said it is necessary step to help bring New Mexico toward compliance with the federal Real ID Act. Otherwise, Martinez said, New Mexicans may need a passport to fly from one U.S. city to another because state driver's licenses are so compromised as a form of identification.

Rep. Miguel Garcia of Albuquerque was one of several Democrats who suggested that Nunez was carrying the bill at Martinez's behest. Garcia said the governor was "meddling" in House matters.

Nunez replied that he drafted the bill before Martinez was elected, doing so because people in his border district and the state overwhelming support a stricter driver's license law.

His bill got a committee hearing almost three weeks ago during which Democrats blocked It on a 3-2, party-line vote. Nunez said so important a matter should not be decided by a handful of people on a committee, so he moved to bring it to the full House.

During committee testimony, Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia said Nunez's bill would hurt people who simply are trying to survive. Most illegal immigrants are decent, hard-working people, the sheriff said.

Aric Wheeler, police chief of Santa Fe, also opposed Nunez's bill. He said licensing illegal immigrants ensures that they know the rules of the road and it gives police a ready means to track them.

Democrats also have said that the licensing system makes it easier for illegal immigrants to buy auto insurance, keeping everybody safer.

Nunez accepted none of those arguments. He said people in the country illegally simply should not be licensed to drive by a state government.

"A driver's license lets them legitimize themselves. A lot of them don't even stay in New Mexico," Nunez said.

Nunez said the hardest part of his fight is over, now that procedural challenges to his bill have failed.

House Republicans throughout the day challenged Lujan's fairness and his rulings on what was permissible in debate. Catcalls occasionally echoed through the chamber.

At one point, the 75-year-old House speaker banged his gavel, and in frustration asked Republican Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell to let him finish his sentence.

Martinez afterward also criticized Lujan.

"I applaud House members, especially the two Democrats, who courageously stood up to Speaker Ben Lujan and stood with New Mexicans who want this dangerous law repealed," she said.

If Nunez wins today in the House, he faces an even tougher battle in the Senate. Democrats hold the edge there, 24-18.

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