Driver IDs for illegals raise security concerns

It was already an incendiary topic: whether to grant illegal immigrants driver's licenses.

To critics, it is an implicit welcome to millions of illegal Latin Americans each year. To many supporters, it's a simple matter of safety: helping thousands of active drivers learn traffic laws.

But now there is another layer in the debate: whether terrorists could slip across the border and apply for licenses, helping them put together an identity that looks authentic.

As a result, the issue of granting drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants - or restricting their access even more - has become one of the hottest topics in states across the country.

At least two bills are pending in Congress that would delineate requirements affecting the use of driver's licenses or ID cards. Legislation is also being debated in a number of states beyond the large immigrant magnets of California and Florida.

"States large and small in every corner of the country are wrestling with the issue of driver's licenses and identification for immigrants and illegals," says Tyler Moran, who tracks the issue for the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). "There remains a deep split in terms of whether states want to restrict or expand access. So the debate has become high profile."

In California, a bill granting driver's licenses to illegals was rescinded in January with the promise by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that a new bill would go forward after key concerns about homeland security were addressed. The issue will probably be back at the forefront of state politics once the current budget wrangling is over.

In the meantime, national observers have switched focus to a first-of-its kind law in Tennessee which took effect July 1. The law is unique in seeking to bridge the divide, analysts say, by conceding key points to both sides. The new law gives a so-called "certificate of driving" to illegal immigrants, but bars them from using the same document for official identification. Thus the certificate seeks to ensure that the holder has mastered the state's motor vehicle laws, but won't allow the individual to board airplanes, buy a gun, or rent a car.

The bill was designed with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in mind, since hijackers used driver's licenses as IDs. To distinguish the certificate from existing licenses, the document is printed on purple paper and reads, "For Driving Purposes Only, Not Valid for Identification."

But if the law sought to please both sides, it hasn't necessarily achieved that goal.

No state should give official identity documents to "people we know nothing about," says James Staudenraus of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). He complains the law requires only that applicants supply two proofs of Tennessee residency and sign affidavits saying they have no Social Security number. The new law, he says, "clearly undermines public safety, national security, and puts Tennessee law enforcement officers at greater risk."

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