HARTFORD – A new state law that grants driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants stipulates that the cards carry a special notation stating they are for driving purposes only and cannot be used as identification.
But now, some members of a legislative working group overseeing implementation of the law say that is unfair. Placing a notation on the licenses of people who are in this country illegally is tantamount to a “scarlet letter” that could leave them vulnerable to discrimination, they say. The Foreign Documents Identification Verification Working Group met Monday at the state capitol.
Instead, they are proposing a system to verify the identity of undocumented immigrants so that their licenses could be used to prove identity for some commercial and civic transactions, such as obtaining a library card.
The licenses still would not meet federal standards for an identification document, said Rev. James Manship, a New Haven Catholic priest who represents Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT), an economic and social justice group, on the oversight panel.
“These [licenses] wouldn’t allow you to board an airplane,” Manship said Monday, during a meeting of the working group charged with devising regulations for the new law.
The debate over licenses for undocumented immigrants was among the most contentious of the 2013 legislative session. A hearing in New Haven on the topic drew a crowd of more than 2,000 people. Lawmakers approved the measure in late May, after a passionate, all-night discussion in the House of Representatives.
But there were still many details to be worked. The law won’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2015, an unusually long lead time designed to give the working group time to hammer out the details.
Roberto Saldaña, a Yale law school student who is working with CONECT, outlined several ways the state Department of Motor Vehicles could verify an applicant’s identity when issuing a license.
“We think a robust identification verification procedure is … not only within reach but possible,” Saldaña said. The state Department of Motor Vehicles, for example, could establish relationships with consulates, who could verify an applicant’s documents, he said.
DMV Commissioner Melody Currey said she is “intrigued” by the idea. But she also acknowledged the difficulty of establishing a system to verify the identity of an immigrant who lacks documentation.
“There would have to be a lot of due diligence done because when you’re dealing with a license that’s used for identification also you are guaranteeing a great deal,” Currey told members of the working group. “Right now, all of our licenses are considered secure documents.”
Connecticut is home to 120,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Pew Hispanic Center; and roughly 54,000 could qualify for a driver’s license under the bill. Supporters of the law say it’s a matter of public safety: undocumented immigrants are already driving, but in many cases, they lack the proper training. They are also more likely to drive unregistered — and uninsured — vehicles.
But Manship said safety is about more than driving. “We speak about safe driving … it is [not just about] people’s competence on the road,” he said. “It’s also when mom and dad are coming home from work and happen to get into an accident and present their credential to a law enforcement agency and they’re [not going to be] deported by immigration.”
