Texas now requiring proof of legal status before issuing a driver's license

[Mr Bill]

AUSTIN — In a clampdown on illegal immigrants, the Texas Department of Public Safety has adopted a new policy requiring non-citizens to prove they are in this country legally before they can obtain or renew a driver's license.
Gov. Rick Perry applauded the change, which went into effect Oct. 1, as a way to strengthen the state's security.
"Texas is a great place to live and work, and while we welcome legally documented individuals to the Lone Star State, we must ensure that this privilege is not abused by those seeking to enter our country illegally," he said.
But Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the policy change is a bad idea because illegal immigrants are going to drive anyway.
"People have to drive to get to work. You want people to get (auto) insurance. They can't get insurance if they don't have a driver's license," he said.
The immigrant driver's licenses will look different than regular licenses so that they are immediately recognizable to police, Perry said. The immigrant licenses will have a "temporary visitor" designation and the date the driver's legal U.S. admission expires.
No driver's license will be issued for anyone whose legal entry into the country expires in less than six months. People with indefinite admission periods will get one-year licenses that will have to be renewed in person with proof that the applicant's lawful status has been extended.
Under the change, people who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States must present valid government documentation that they are in the country legally before they can obtain a driver's license or personal identification card.
The documents must be issued by the Department of Justice, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Border-crossing cards won't be accepted.
Lawful permanent residents must present valid immigrant visas or U.S. resident alien cards before getting licenses.
U.S. citizens applying for a license for the first time have various options for proving citizenship, including a U.S. passport, citizenship certificate or a combination of other documents, including a birth certificate, military records and voter registration card.
State law also requires applicants for driver's licenses to provide a Social Security number. But applicants can bypass that requirement by signing an affidavit that they have been deemed ineligible for coverage.
The affidavit doesn't require applicants to state why they have been denied Social Security coverage, DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said. And, she added, illegal immigrants could have obtained licenses by submitting fake Social Security cards.
She said the Public Safety Commission, the DPS' governing board, imposed the new restrictions for immigrants on its own. Similar changes in policy have been proposed by legislators, but none of those bills have ever become law.
"The commission wanted to make sure the driver licenses and identification cards were as secure documents as we could make them," she said.
The DPS estimates that as many as 2 million out of Texas' 16 million licensed drivers — one in eight — may be immigrants, many in the country illegally, Mange said.
But Harrington challenged the estimate.
"That's nonsense. I don't think anybody has any idea," he said.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, agreed.
"The idea that there's a flood of people (illegal immigrants) going into DPS offices, signing a form saying they're not eligible for a Social Security card and then getting driver's licenses is unbelievable," he said.
Coleman said the crackdown was election-year "demagoguery" by Perry.
"It (immigration) is the issue that galvanizes their (Republican) base," he said.
Public Safety Commission Chairman Allan Polunsky, of San Antonio, said he initiated the policy change after learning of a taxi driver in Dallas who had imported undocumented workers into Texas from other states so they could obtain Texas driver's licenses.
He said he didn't know the taxi driver's motives but found it disconcerting that illegal immigrants could easily obtain driver's licenses in Texas. He said the new restrictions also bring Texas into closer compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, which requires states to create specially marked licenses for some immigrants.
Perry, who appointed the commission members and announced the policy change, said terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had expired visas but valid driver's licenses and identification cards issued by other states.
"The safety of Texans remains a paramount concern of my administration, and these new guidelines will provide additional security," he said.

[the dangling wrangler]

That should have happened ten years ago. But, better late than never.

[mechanicalgsxr]

now that's just racist

[the dangling wrangler]

Not the article I read. It did say, illegal immigrants though."They" could be from anywhere in the world.

[mechanicalgsxr]

hey if you do anything to anyone who is not a white christian straight man you are a racist

[the dangling wrangler]

Originally Posted by mechanicalgsxr

hey if you do anything to anyone who is not a white christian straight man you are a racist

Guilty.

[mark beiser]

Brings a tear to the eye of this 5th generation Texan.



I like that they are making the license different for foreign immigrants, now they need to make it different for domestic immigrants to Texas.

[ga-hvac-tech]

Becoming a legal resident or a citizen is not rocket science.

I know a bunch of folks that have done it...

We could learn something from history here:

Rome was one of the greatest countries in the history of the world. If one was a 'Roman Citizen' one had rights beyond those of folks that were not.

We need to do that in the USA. If you want the rights associated with the Constitution, become a citizen.

[legalrights]

As of October 1, 2008, the state of Texas now requires that driver's license applicants show proof of legal immigration status when getting an original, renewal, or duplicate license. For those who are not citizens or permanent residents, the license will have on its face an indication of the expiration date of legal status.

Public Safety Commission Chairman Allan Polunsky, of San Antonio, said he initiated the policy change after learning of a taxi driver in Dallas who had imported undocumented workers into Texas from other states so they could obtain Texas driver's licenses.
He said he didn't know the taxi driver's motives but found it disconcerting that illegal immigrants could easily obtain driver's licenses in Texas. He said the new restrictions also bring Texas into closer compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, which requires states to create specially marked licenses for some immigrants.

[Governor] Perry, who appointed the commission members and announced the policy change, said terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had expired visas but valid driver's licenses and identification cards issued by other states.
apostille info

[bootlen]

Does one not have to be a resident of TX or be serving in the military to get a TX license? I don't see the big deal.

[tunnel_rat]

Seems like the least any state should be doing. Apparantly, you don't even need that proof to become POTUS .....