Fewer licenses granted to immigrants
daily-times.com
By Barry Massey
The Associated Press
Posted: 09/15/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT

SANTA FE — The flow of driver's licenses to immigrants has slowed in New Mexico since the state tightened its application system last year, but the drop-off steepened after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez took office in January promising to end the licensing policy, according to a review of state records by The Associated Press.

Martinez has unsuccessfully pressed the Democratic-controlled Legislature to repeal New Mexico's immigrant license law, but fewer licenses are being issued to foreign nationals as the political debate intensifies. New Mexico is one of only three states where illegal immigrants can be issued a driver's license.

New immigrant licenses — those issued for the first time to people without a Social Security number — dropped 57 percent during the first seven months of the Martinez administration compared to the same period a year ago under her predecessor, Democrat Bill Richardson.

Immigrant licenses in New Mexico declined 44 percent in the past 12 months compared with the previous one-year period, according to license numbers obtained from the state in response to a public records request by the AP.

The decline started in August 2010 after illegal immigrants and other foreign nationals were required to make an appointment for a driver's license at a Motor Vehicle Division office, rather than walking in at any time for the transaction.

New Mexico, Washington and Utah are the only states where an illegal immigrant can get a license to drive because no Social Security number or proof of immigration status is required of applicants.

However, Utah's permit can't be used as an ID and the state changed its law this year to require a background check and fingerprinting of immigrants applying for a driving privilege card.

Washington has seen a drop in foreign national licenses this year, apparently because it tightened rules for showing residency by applicants without a Social Security number.

About 92,000 foreign national licenses have been issued in New Mexico from 2003 through July, according to Taxation and Revenue Department records. However, state officials do not know how many went to illegal immigrants because license applicants are not required to submit information about their immigration status.

New Mexico experienced a surge in foreign nationals getting licenses early last year after crackdowns on illegal immigrants in neighboring Arizona and elsewhere. But that abruptly changed after the Richardson administration implemented the appointment system in late July 2010. The number of new licenses dropped by more than half the next month.

An average of 22 foreign national licenses have been issued daily from January through July this year. That's down from 52 a day during the same period last year and an average of 38 a day in 2009, according to an AP analysis of state records.

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