NM State Senate: Undocumented immigrants must be fingerprinted to obtain license

By Milan Simonich / Santa Fe Bureau
Posted: 03/10/2011 07:53:47 AM MST

SANTA FE - Undocumented immigrants would have to be fingerprinted to obtain a New Mexico driver's license under a bill that state senators approved late Wednesday.
The measure is at odds with a House bill that would prohibit people without proof of immigration status from receiving driver's licenses.

Whether a committee of legislators from the two bodies can resolve the differences is an open question for the last nine days of the session.

So confusing were the debate and amendments to the licensing bill that Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque, said they had become unintelligible.

"I don't even know what this bill does anymore," he said as the clock approached midnight.

Along with requiring fingerprinting of those who cannot prove they have a right to be in America, the bill would mandate that they renew their driver's licenses every two years. New Mexico licenses now last for four to eight years.
Undocumented immigrants also would have to prove that they have lived in New Mexico for six months to qualify for a driver's license. The current law that allows undocumented immigrants to receive licenses has no provision on length of residency.

The House bill, by independent Rep. Andy Nunez of Hatch, is more simple. It would bar anyone without proof of immigration status from obtaining a New Mexico driver's license.

Nunez said people who are in the country illegally "legitimize themselves" by getting New Mexico licenses, then use them to move about the country. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez backed his bill, saying the existing system endangers border and national security.
Sen. John Ryan, R-Albuquerque, tried to move Nunez's bill to the full Senate on Wednesday night, a day after a legislative committee weakened it. Democrats, though, banded together to stop Nunez's bill.

The Senate vote against accepting Nunez's proposal was 24-17. All of those who opposed it were Democrats.

Fifteen Republicans and two Democrats backed Nunez's measure to stop licensing those in the country illegally.

The Democrats who broke ranks to oppose licenses for undocumented immigrants were John Arthur Smith of Deming and Tim Eichenberg of Albuquerque.

Various Senate Democrats said the proposal to restrict immigrant licenses was race-based and entirely political.

"This is basically a bill that is very biased against Mexican nationals," said Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Espanola.

Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, agreed with him. She said Gov. Martinez had pushed for the driver's license crackdown as "a gotcha issue" intended for political gain.

After stopping Nunez's bill, Democrats pushed through the proposal requiring fingerprinting and a six-month residency in the state before an undocumented immigrant could obtain a driver's license.

That vote was 25-16. Smith was the only Democrat to oppose it.

Sen. Tim Jennings, R-Roswell, also got through an amendment that guarantees that those in the armed forces can qualify for New Mexico licenses if they are stationed in the state.

Republicans howled at Jennings' attempt to help U.S. soldiers "qualify" for driver's licenses. They said everybody in the U.S. military has a Social Security number and already can obtain a New Mexico license.

The debate turned ugly after that.

Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, referred to coverage of the licensing issue on Albuquerque radio station "KKK-OB" - a swipe implying it was racist, as is the Ku Klux Klan.

This brought a rebuttal from Republican Sen. Rod Adair of Roswell.

Fuming, Adair took the floor and said Griego neither had a sense of history nor did he care about it. Adair said the Klan in its heyday murdered some 5,000 Republicans, and that Griego had trivialized its crimes.

New Mexico has granted driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants since 2003. They must provide a taxpayer identification number, a birth certificate from their home country and, in applicable cases, their national identification card from Mexico.

Sen. Richard Martinez said the law had made New Mexico roads safer because these undocumented immigrants were able to purchase vehicle insurance once they had licenses to drive.

About 83,000 foreign nationals have obtained New Mexico driver's licenses. The state does not track how many had proper immigration documents and how many did not. Overall, about 1.7 million people have New Mexico driver's licenses.

Forty-seven states require proof of immigration status to get a driver's license. New Mexico, Utah and Washington are the exceptions.

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

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