Why Oregon should issue driver licenses to undocumented residents

Here is a draft of Sunday's editorial. We welcome your comments and plan to publish some in Sunday's Sound Off. Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com
Oregon should make short-term driver licenses available for the state’s undocumented residents.
Why? Because that would make our roads safer.
“We want everyone who drives in Oregon to be licensed and insured,” said Gilbert Carrasco, a law professor at Willamette University and a member of the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
It’s estimated that thousands of people are driving illegally in Oregon because they don’t qualify for the regular, eight-year driver license with its required proof of citizenship. And if they don’t have vehicle insurance, or if they don’t understand U.S. rules of the road, they increase the risks for the rest of us.
Senate Bill 833 would allow residents to obtain a short-term (four-year) driver license if they can prove their identity and have lived in Oregon for at least a year. The license could not be used for driving commercial vehicles, obtaining a concealed handgun license purchasing firearms or going through airport security.
The Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division would design the short-term license, which would be clearly identified as such.
Critics see this as flouting U.S. immigration law. Not so. Immigration enforcement is a federal issue. Driver licenses traditionally have been a state issue, although Congress got involved with the Real ID Act of 2005.
Gov. John Kitzhaber endured a lot of flak for asking business, law enforcement, immigration-rights and other organizations to collaboratively develop a driver license proposal. But their 22 months of work has yielded a common-sense approach.
It’s true that many Oregon residents who would seek the short-term licenses are in the U.S. illegally, having overstayed student or other visas, or having entered the country unlawfully. But guess what, folks? They’re here, and it’s smarter to have them driving properly than to ignore reality.
Carrasco notes that when states began issuing driver licenses in the early 20th century, the goal was to ensure that all drivers were licensed, and eventually insured, regardless of legal status.
Even if the current Congress rewrites our national immigration practices, several years may pass before the changes are implemented. Meantime, no one realistically expects the undocumented immigrants to disappear or to stop driving to work, school, church and other places.
The short-term driver license would require the DMV’s usual driving tests. That is important, because driving practices in the U.S. are far different from those in some other cultures. An undocumented-immigrant driver who becomes informed on Oregon traffic regulations is a safer driver.
In addition, there are a good many Oregonians who qualify as citizens or other legal resident but have been unable to obtain driver licenses since the Real ID Act took effect. They have lost their papers, they have been unable to get a birth certificate or, because they were born in a different era, no official records of their birth exist.
SB 833 is good for Oregon. It doesn’t affect immigration status. It addresses safer driving.
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This is a draft. As with everything in the newspaper, all editorials are subject to editing before final publication. We welcome your comments and suggestions; please email them to the Editorial Board: Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com
　
　
http://community.statesmanjournal.com/blogs/editorialblog/2013/04/13/why-oregon-should-issue-driver-licenses-to-undocumented-residents