Illinois allows driving licenses for illegal immigrants

(by Joanne von Alroth, Reuters and Ray Long and Rafael Guerrero of The Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD — Illinois will become the fourth U.S. state to allow illegal immigrants to drive, after the state House of Representatives on Tuesday approved temporary licenses and Democratic Governor Pat Quinn said he would sign the measure into law.

Only Washington state and New Mexico allow drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, and Utah provides driving permits.

Supporters of the measure said some 250,000 illegal immigrants [are already driving without licenses] in the fifth most populous U.S. state, and the new law would require them to take a drivers test and have insurance. It was not yet clear how many illegal immigrants would feel comfortable stepping forward to apply for licenses.

“Illinois roads will be safer if we ensure every driver learns the rules of the road and is trained to drive safely,” Governor Quinn said in a statement. “I look forward to signing this legislation.”

Republican Rep. Randy Ramey of DuPage County said too many issues are left unanswered.  “There are going to be far too many people who will get these cards,” Ramey said. “There’ll be fraud, abuse.”

House Republican leader Tom Cross, however, supported the measure saying Illinois should be a place welcoming to immigrants “who want to work, who want to be part of our communities. We should work with them, not fight with them.”

The vote was 65 to 46 in the state House, after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the proposal on December 4. [Both the state House and Senate have a Democratic majority.]

To become eligible for a license, a person would have to live in Illinois for at least a year, a provision that would require applicants to provide a copy of a lease, utility bills and the like. Under current law, people without a Social Security number or proper documentation to be in the country cannot get a driver’s license and often have trouble getting car insurance.

The licenses could not be used for other identification purposes, such as for boarding a plane, buying a gun or voting. …..

The Illinois Highway Safety Coalition says unlicensed, uninsured drivers are involved in almost 80,000 accidents in the state each year, resulting in $660 million in damage. Unlicensed immigrant drivers cost $64 million in damage claims, it said.

The measure would allow illegal immigrants to obtain the same temporary visitor drivers license currently used by legal immigrants. The licenses are “visually distinct” from ordinary licenses, with a purple background and the words “not valid for identification” on the front, explained Lawrence Benito, chief executive of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

State Farm Insurance, a major insurer headquartered in Illinois, said the legislation could present challenges for insurance companies in assessing the driving record of illegal immigrants, but the company would implement the law.  “Just because you have a driver’s license of any kind doesn’t mean you’ll get insurance,” said spokeswoman Missy Dundov. “We have to consider all the information available.” …..

During Monday’s hearing, opponents questioned why there was no fingerprinting involved with the temporary licenses to ensure that those who apply are not lying about their identity.

“Without these basic public safety and Illinois security safeguards, this bill’s unsafe,” Hanover Park police Chief David Webb said.  “This is a two-prong issue: It’s not only about highway safety, but it’s also homeland security issues.”

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Illinois was home to 2 million Latinos, or nearly 16 percent of the population.

(Additional reporting for Reuters by Mary Wisniewski)

This article is combined from two articles on this topic, found at: Reuters.com. and chicagotribune.com.  Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from Thomson Reuters and Chicago Tribune.