Thread: States Push To Keep Illegal Immigrants Off The Road

States Push To Keep Illegal Immigrants Off The Road

NPR
November 24, 2009

Only three states — Illinois, New Mexico and Washington — now allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses and other states have recently implemented practices aimed at banning all immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally from operating motor vehicles.

As part of the NPR series, "On The Road to Safety," Tell Me More explores the extreme risks of road safety posed by unlicensed and uninsured immigrant drivers.

Guest host Jennifer Ludden speaks with Loretta Worters, of the Insurance Information Institute, for more.

Worters is joined by Ira Melman, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, and Kevin Johnson, professor of law and Chicana-Chicano Studies at the University of California, Davis.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =120682785

Only three states — Illinois, New Mexico and Washington — now allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses

Not exactly, according to this article:

http://www.immigrantconnect.org/?p=1047

Currently only five states allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses: Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Hawaii, and Maryland.

In Illinois, a social security number is required to apply for a driver’s license, which makes it impossible for illegal immigrants to get one. But it also makes it difficult for some legal aliens to drive. Non-resident aliens—that is, people with H-1B status or other temporary work authorization—are allowed to apply for a social security card, but their spouse or children, who are in the country legally, are not. Therefore, they are also disqualified from obtaining a driver’s license.

For many immigrants, the alternative is driving without a license—and without insurance—because not driving at all is simply not an option. According to the Massachusetts police chiefs, this increases the number of hit-and-run accidents and generally makes the roads less safe. Despite these concerns, the national trend seems to be moving away from allowing illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses.

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So, with a stolen SSN an illegal can drive in Illinois - but they don't - too much time and trouble.