Are Out-of-State Drivers Flooding New Mexico?
August 1, 2011, 11:45 AM ET
By Nathan Koppel

A little over a year has passed since Arizona passed its controversial law authorizing local police to crack down on illegal immigration, a move that sparked copycat legislation and litigation across the country.

In New Mexico, a battle is shaping up over a different type of immigration enforcement measure.

The state currently grants driver’s licenses to people regardless of their immigration status, but Republican Governor Susana Martinez wants to more closely regulate licenses.

The governor is in the process of ordering 10,000 license holders to appear in Albuquerque to document that they are New Mexico residents, according to this article in the Silver City (Az.) Sun-News.

By law, illegal immigrants can obtain New Mexico licenses, provided that they live in state. But the governor believes that the state’s open-ended license system has become a magnet for fraud, with many illegal immigrants outside the state coming to New Mexico to obtain an official, government-issued ID card, the Sun-News reports.

“New Mexico’s driver’s license is not secure,â€