Kulongoski rejects driver's license rule delay request

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Story Published: Jan 4, 2008 at 9:20 AM PST

Story Updated: Jan 4, 2008 at 9:49 AM PST
By KATU Web Staff
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Gov. Ted Kulongoski has rejected calls from Hispanic groups to delay implementing tougher state rules for obtaining a driver's license.

On Monday, the groups submitted 5,000 petition signatures to the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division in Salem, asking for a one-year delay.

But Patty Wentz, Kulongoski's spokeswoman, told the Statesman Journal newspaper Thursday that the executive order "absolutely" will not be delayed.

Ramon Ramirez, the president of the Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United, the state's largest farmworker union, accused Kulongoski of not valuing the state's Latino immigrant community.

"What the governor is basically saying to immigrants is, 'I don't care about you, and I don't care about your rights,"' Ramirez said.

Kulongoski signed the executive order in November. It requires, after Feb. 4, that applicants show proof of legal residence to get an Oregon license.

As of now, immigrants in Oregon can use a Mexican ID card supplied only by the Mexican Consulate in Portland to get Oregon licenses. That would end when the new rules take effect.

Oregon is one of only a handful of states that does not require proof of legal residence for a license. Kulongoski has said all Oregon driver's licenses might become invalid as ID for boarding commercial airliners or visiting federal office buildings if the state doesn't comply with federal requirements insisting on proof of legal residence for a license.

Jim Ludwick, the president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a group that advocates against illegal immigration, praised the governor's decision.

"He has taken a very positive and strong position on an issue that needs to be dealt with," Ludwick said.

Back in November, the governor said the DMV would inform Oregonians about the new rules and required documents in advance of the Feb. 4 implementation date. But with that date just one month away, the DMV has yet to send out brochures or make public service announcements about the changes.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)



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