Thread: No driver's licenses: Texas bill would keep undocumented off

No driver's licenses: Texas bill would keep undocumented off roads

by Zahira Torres \ Austin Bureau
Posted: 04/29/2011 12:00:00 AM MDT

AUSTIN -- Texas already denies driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, but that practice could become law under a bill passed Thursday by the state Senate.

The measure was part of a larger border security bill that eased through the Senate on the condition that its author would not allow the Texas House to tack on provisions preventing local governments from creating policies that keep peace officers from questioning immigration status.

"I see that as a separate issue," said state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands. Williams, who is also the Senate author of anti-sanctuary city legislation, added, "I won't accept any language like that onto this bill either in the Senate or the House."

Under the bill, law enforcement would also be required to check the immigration status of every person booked into Texas jails, using a federal immigration enforcement program called Secure Communities. El Paso County uses the program only for suspects arrested for more-serious crimes, not for Class C misdemeanor offenses that include traffic violations.

State Sen. José RodrÃ*guez, D-El Paso, was one of five senators who voted against the bill. The other 26 senators voted to support the legislation.

RodrÃ*guez cited concerns about legal residents being denied driver's licenses because Department of Public Safety clerks were not properly trained to deal with immigration documents.

The bill also ties the expiration of driver's licenses to the amount of time a person is legally in the country, instead of the current 6-year period.
The Department of Public Safety for the past two years has, through an administrative rule, required proof of U.S. citizenship or legal status to get a driver's license.

Since then, officials of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund have reported receiving more than 260 complaints from legal Texas residents.

Williams said that to help ease concerns, 10 offices across the state, including in El Paso, will be required

TX CAPITOL REPORT
A view from the state capitol.

to have at least two employees properly trained to work with immigration documents.
The bill also increases driver's license fees to help pay for more than 300 new employees, training and necessary upgrades in technology, he said.

Those fees would be an additional $8 for a driver's license, $20 for a commercial driver's license and $40 for a nonresident commercial license.

RodrÃ*guez said he also worries that the Secure Communities program can affect legal residents and people who are not violent criminals.

He recounted a news story about a victim of domestic violence who filed a report against the abuser but was jailed along with the abuser and then deported despite having children in the country who were citizens.

"While I understand what we're trying to accomplish here, there are some serious problems with both of these programs that are detrimental to law-abiding citizens, U.S. citizens here in this country," RodrÃ*guez said.

Another provision in the bill would require county officials to report a monthly inventory of the number of undocumented immigrants in jails as a way to calculate the costs to the state.

People who finance, direct or supervise an act by criminal street gangs would face a mandatory sentence of at least 25 years and up to 99 years in prison under the bill.

The bill also directs the Department of Public Safety to establish a pilot program that uses license plate readers in state trooper cars.

The data collected from the readers would have to be destroyed in one year unless it can be used as evidence in a criminal investigation or prosecution.

Zahira Torres may be reached at ztorres@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_17955252

YES!!!!! THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE IN EVERY STATE OF THE U.S.!!!!

Do you think Texas should pass a law denying undocumented immigrants driver's licenses?
Yes 83.5%
http://bit.ly/mJjVOn
ALL STATES SHOULD

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