By Deborah Baker / Journal Staff Writer
Thursday, February 11th, 2016 at 6:48pm

SANTA FE — As legislative leaders negotiated behind the scenes over how the state should comply with Real ID, advocates for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault urged them not to make fingerprinting part of the solution.

Forcing undocumented immigrants to provide fingerprints to get a driving authorization card would be an “additional and unnecessary barrier” that would deter them from applying, 27 organizations said in a statement.

“Essentially, we’d turn away these individuals. We’d put them back in the shadows,” Damian Lara, president of the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association, said at a news conference.

Advocates said a driving card or license is a crucial tool for domestic violence survivors who may need to drive to safety, open a bank account or cash a check, check into a hotel or get an order of protection against an abuser.

A Senate committee last week stripped fingerprinting out of a House-passed bill that would provide driving authorization cards to undocumented immigrants.

The House’s Republican majority immediately complained, saying fingerprinting was a security issue and its removal was a deal-breaker.

With the bill pending in the Senate Finance Committee, closed-door talks have been held this week — involving House and Senate leaders and the Governor’s Office — in an effort to reach a deal.

“We’re still working. …We are closer than we were,” Rep. Paul Pacheco, R-Albuquerque, sponsor of House Bill 99, said Thursday.

Before the provision was removed from that bill, it would have required undocumented immigrants to submit fingerprints that would be forwarded to the FBI.

The Department of Public Safety also was mandated to check the fingerprints against state and regional databases. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be notified of any criminal history or civil or criminal warrant.

“We’re still discussing the fingerprint issue,” said Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, co-sponsor of the Senate’s rewrite of House Bill 99.

The opponents of fingerprinting said knowing that ICE would be notified of warrants — including a civil warrant issued because ICE suspects someone is in the country illegally — would scare people away from applying for driving cards because of the risk of deportation.

Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, said the fingerprinting requirement would “create a chilling effect for the immigrant community.” It would mean a return to the time when undocumented immigrants — because they were unlicensed — were wary of interacting with police — for example, as victims or witnesses.

http://www.abqjournal.com/722518/new...-solution.html