Thread: N.M.: Gov. says licensed drivers must prove residency

Gov. says licensed drivers must prove residency

Deming Headlight (New Mexico)

September 5, 2011 Monday

By Milan Simonich

SANTA FE Democrats are starting to call her Gov. Gridlock.

They say Gov. Susana Martinez's intransigence stops progress and discourages the give and take that often comes with professional politics.

One of their examples is the law that allows state residents without proof of immigration status to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses.

A battle over the licensing law was fought last winter, and it will be renewed in the Legislature's special session starting Tuesday.

State Sen. John Sapien, D-Corrales, says the divisive driver's license issue could have been resolved six months ago had Martinez been willing to compromise. She would not budge, saying the law should be repealed, not modified.

Senate Democrats proposed a fraud-fighting crackdown on licensing. It included fingerprinting and two-year renewals on driver's licenses issued to foreign nationals. Citizens receive New Mexico driver's licenses good for four or eight years.

The legislation Martinez wanted to end licensing of illegal immigrants stalled in the Senate and then died.

Sapien said Martinez's rigid stand has everyone back where they started in January. The governor again will press to repeal the licensing law, facing off with Senate Democrats who have ample votes to stop her initiative.

For her part, Martinez has shown no interest in softening her stand.

She campaigned on repealing the law that allows illegal immigrants to receive New Mexico driver's licenses, saying it threatens border and national security.

"Ultimately, this public safety problem will not be fully resolved until the Legislature acts on the wishes of the public to overturn this law," Martinez said.

Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, said she did not believe Martinez's attempt at a repeal could clear the Senate. If that is how the issue plays out for a second time in 2011, New Mexico will remain one of three states that issues driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Sapien said his frustration was that Senate Democrats offered legislation to make the licensing system more secure and eliminate the fraud problems that Martinez likes to talk about.

"People do not want an uncompromising government," Sapien said. "That is what we have in Washington, and it doesn't work."

He said Martinez would find it increasingly difficult to govern if she remains unwilling to compromise.

State Rep. Antonio Lujan represents a border district in Las Cruces. He says most of his constituents perhaps 70 percent favor the law allowing illegal immigrants to receive New Mexico driver's licenses.

"To me, it's also about public safety," Lujan said. "Those who have a driver's license can purchase insurance, at least liability insurance."

Sapien, who owns an insurance agency, agreed with Lujan. He said striking the law would increase the number of uninsured drivers. He places that figure at 30 percent already.

Lujan, like the governor, is not interested in compromising on the licensing issue.

"Even if my constituents were not in favor of the law, I would not change it," he said.

Certain police agencies, including the Santa Fe police and sheriff's departments, favor licensing illegal immigrants. They say it puts more drivers in law enforcement's database, making it easier for police to track people.

Even so, a dozen states in the last 10 years have repealed immigrant licensing laws similar to New Mexico's. They included California, Oregon, North Carolina and Maryland.

Political backlash, administrative difficulties and fraud were some of the reasons licensing laws were stricken from the books.

Today, only New Mexico, Utah and Washington continue to issues driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Most Democrats in the Legislature hope to keep it that way, setting up a showdown between them and Martinez.

Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com .

The question

Should legislators repeal a 2003 law that enables illegal immigrants to obtain a New Mexico driver's license?

The breakdown

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez again is pressing to strike down the law. She should win in the state House of Representatives, which voted 42-28 last winter to repeal the licensing law. Eight Democrats broke party ranks to support the repeal.

The real challenge for Martinez will be in state Senate. Democrats hold a 27-15 advantage there. A handful of Democrats, including Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming, voted last time to repeal the licensing law. But Martinez would have to swing another four or five Democrats to prevail, and that seems unlikely.

The result

New Mexico's licensing system is likely to remain unchanged. Martinez then would enter 2012 with campaign footage of Democrats supporting the driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

www6.lexisnexis.com

New Mexico to mull changes to immigrant driver's licenses


By the CNN Wire Staff

September 6, 2011 12:08 a.m. EDT


(CNN) -- New Mexico -- one of three states that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses -- is debating whether to change the practice.

On Tuesday, the state's lawmakers are scheduled to take up the issue in a special session. The session was originally scheduled to focus on redistricting for statewide elections, but the governor put the issue on the docket.

Republican Susana Martinez, the nation's first Latina governor, campaigned on a promise to stop undocumented immigrants from getting licenses.

The state's House in March passed a measure to start requiring license applicants to have Social Security cards, which are available only to legal residents.

The Senate has rejected House Bill 78, however. A push is underway to swing the vote in the Senate, with Martinez leading the effort.

Immigrant-rights advocates defend the current practice. It was intended to offer undocumented immigrants "the opportunity to buy insurance, register their vehicles and have a driving record available to all law enforcement," said Marcela Diaz of Somos Un Pueblo Unido (We Are a United People).

But critics say the practice is turning New Mexico into a magnet for fraud.

"Currently, illegal immigrants from all over the country come to New Mexico to obtain a license without having the intention of staying here," said Demesia Padilla, the state's secretary of taxation and revenue.

Some scofflaws sell their residency information. One woman, Rosa Pardo-Marrufo, confessed to allowing her address to be used -- charging up to $700 for each application. She was arrested in 2009 and is serving 10 years in prison for fraud.

The state Taxation and Revenue Department has pushed a "residency certification program." Aiming to expose residency fraud, officials began sending letters in July to 10,000 of the more than 84,000 immigrants who have been issued a license without a Social Security number. They've been asked to prove their state residency or lose their licenses.

On Thursday, a New Mexico district judge placed a temporary restraining order on residency certification, in response to a lawsuit against the Taxation and Revenue Department by the Mexican American Legal and Educational Defense Fund (MALDEF). A hearing on September 13 will determine whether Judge Sarah Singleton's restraining order will become permanent.

Utah and Washington are the only other states that grant undocumented immigrants driver's licenses.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/09/06/new.me ... s.license/

Good for her! I'm glad Susana Martinez is sticking to what she said she would do.

Dixie