Obtaining A Driver's License

Overview

• Immigrants are too often unable to obtain state driver’s licenses. 
• Denying immigrants the right to obtain licenses endangers public safety and wastes limited law enforcement and judicial resources.
• Denying driver’s licenses increases the likelihood of identity fraud. 
• Denying driver’s licenses is an ineffective means of enforcing immigration law. 
• Denying driver’s licenses is an ineffective tool to prevent terrorism.
• No federal law prohibits states from issuing licenses to drivers, regardless of their immigration status. 
• Law enforcement officials support providing driver’s licenses to immigrants.
• In the name of public safety, states should adopt policies that allow immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

Immigrants are too often unable to obtain state driver’s licenses.

Federal law does not require states to deny driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, and very few states have statutes that explicitly limit driver’s licenses to legal residents.  However, states often require applicants to provide specific types of identification, such as Social Security numbers, and do not accept foreign-issued identity documents.  As a result, many immigrants, including legal permanent residents, are unable to obtain driver’s licenses.

Denying immigrants the right to obtain licenses endangers public safety.

Driving is a necessity for most parents and working adults in America. So, to meet the demands of life, many American immigrants are compelled to drive without obtaining driver’s licenses.  This endangers public safety since, typically, unlicensed immigrant drivers are not well-educated on state driving laws and are unlikely to be insured. This combination contributes significantly to the number of dangerous motorists on the road, and to the number of traffic accidents and violations. Nationally, uninsured motorists cause 14.5 percent of all accidents, and over $4.1 billion in insurance losses per year.

Denying immigrants the right to obtain licenses wastes limited law enforcement and judicial resources.
Immigrant driver’s license restrictions result in

numerous arrests, which clog courtrooms and
divert law enforcement officers from more urgent public safety responsibilities.  Immigrants without licenses are also left out of the state identification systems used to bring others to justice in a wide range of cases, from child-support enforcement to criminal warrants.

Denying driver’s licenses increases the likelihood of identity fraud.
There is no question that states should use rigorous procedures to ensure the identity of a driver’s license recipient.  But those procedures should not exclude persons who can prove their identity, whether by consular identification, foreign passports, birth certificates, or other verifiable documents.  Excluding verifiable documents creates conditions for false documents and false identities to flourish.  Illinoisand Massachusetts, among other states, have been rocked by scandals involving corrupt issuance of hundreds of fraudulent documents to persons who were precluded from obtaining licenses legally.

Denying licenses is an ineffective means of enforcing immigration law.
Driver’s license restrictions have neither deterred immigration nor encouraged existing immigrants to return to their countries of origin.  It is a policy without a purpose.

Denying driver’s licenses is an ineffective tool to prevent terrorism.
Recently, the issue of driver’s licenses has been tied to security concerns, and numerous legislative proposals, executive orders, and regulatory changes were initiated in the states to impose harsh restrictions specifically on immigrants’ access to state-issued driver’s licenses. The scope of these proposals goes well beyond undocumented immigrants, and has the potential to exclude legal immigrants and even U.S.citizens from state-issued identification documents. 

Law enforcement officials support providing driver’s licenses to immigrants.
In most states, law enforcement officials are part of coalitions supporting the elimination of restrictions on driver’s licenses.  As reasons for their support, they cite public safety, fraud prevention, and the desire to reduce courtroom congestion. They also note that police officers are better able to protect communities with the cooperation of all residents, regardless of immigration status. In Tennessee, when some policymakers suggested repealing the law permitting driver’s licenses for immigrants in the name of national security, the Tennessee Safety Department opposed the suggestion, pointing out that issuing licenses allows the state to better know who resides there.

In the name of public safety, states should adopt policies that allow immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
Tennesseelaw provides a good model.  It requires driver’s license applicants who do not have a Social Security number (SSN) to:

• Complete an affidavit affirming that they have never been issued a SSN.
• Provide two forms of alternative identification:  an original, certified birth certificate, a military identification, a passport, a license issued by another state or country, an adoptive decree, or a marriage certificate.

Provide two documents showing proof of residency in the state.

This policy summary relies in large part on information from the  Center on Policy Alternatives and the  National Council of La Raza.  We'd like to thank them for blazing the high road on Immigrant rights.

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