The coming of the new year also brings good news for undocumented residents in California: all California residents will soon be able to acquire legal driver's licenses, regardless of immigration status, beginning January 2, 2015.
Assembly Bill 60 (AB 60), also known as the Safe and Responsible Drivers Act, was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in 2013, and will start being implemented next year, allowing over 400,000 undocumented Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) residents, and an estimated total of 1.4 million undocumented residents, in the state of California to apply and test for legal, non-commercial driver's licenses.
Even better, those who are interested but may be intimidated by the language barrier need not worry; DMV appointments and written tests can be done in their native language. They will, however, need to prepare in advance for the behind-the-wheel portion, during which translators are not allowed.
Advocates of the new law are excited that undocumented residents will be free from the risk of unsafe driving, vehicle impoundments, and potential for arrest from unlicensed driving.
(From left to right: Betty Hung from Asian Americans Advancing Justice LA; Stacy Suh from American Civil Liberties Union and the Drive CA Coalition; Joseph Bernardo from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's office; and Maddie Villanueva, a parent from ASPIRE in Los Angeles) Advocates of AB 60 gathered at a press conference on December 18 to explain the process of acquiring AB 60 licenses, and to inform the community about the new law that enables all CA residents to apply for legal driver's licenses regardless of immigration status.
"AB 60 will make it easier for hard-working Pacific Islanders to support their families and contribute meaningfully to their communities while helping to make our roads safer for everyone," said Tana Lepule, Executive Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities.
Indeed, though unlicensed driving has made commuting much more difficult for undocumented residents, it hasn't deterred them from doing what they needed to do to keep themselves and their families going. Supporters of AB 60 thus say that if they will be driving anyway, it would be much safer to give them access to legal licenses and allow them to properly learn the state's rules of the road, lowering rates of hit-and-run accidents as well as rates of auto insurance.
Those who oppose AB 60, however, argue that allowing undocumented residents to receive legal driver's licenses isn't fair to those who immigrated into the country legally and receive these services and privileges as a legal resident.
This seems to be one of the key differences in perspective between those who support and oppose the bill--the former believe being legally licensed is a right, while the latter believe it's a privilege.
Some also cite concerns that such a law may negatively affect national security. This specific concern was especially prevalent when such laws were suggested near the time of the September 11 attack, during which extremists used driver's licenses to board on the plane.
However, AB 60 licenses are demarcated on the front and back with, "federal limits apply," and "not acceptable for official federal purposes," limiting AB 60 license holders from using the license as a formal form of ID to go through TSA or any federal facilities. Other states who have similar driver's licenses for undocumented residents--including Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Utah, Nevada, Washington D.C., to name a few--also have similar methods of distinguishing the licenses.
Supporters also counter that allowing undocumented residents to have legal driver's licenses will actually strengthen national security, enabling the government to have them on some form of record, and thus bringing them "out of the shadows."
AB 60 license holders cannot use the license to vote, nor does the license make them eligible for any additional benefits.
Those who are interested can apply for the AB 60 driver's license at any local DMV office once the law comes into effect, and are encouraged to pay off any previous traffic tickets beforehand. Those with previous criminal record or deportation record were also advised not to apply for the license immediately, but to instead seek help from Asian Americans Advancing Justice LA, one of the organizations that have been advocating for AB 60.
Meanwhile, the future of the bill remains uncertain. Similar laws have been passed and repealed in the past, such as in 2007 when a New York law was overturned by a senate vote, and this particular issue seems not to have any particular political leaning.
"It doesn't line up politically 'left' or 'right' in predictable ways," Marc R. Rosenblum, a deputy director of the Migration Policy Institute, told the New York Times.
California will be the 11th state to implement such a law.
