Federal Driver's License Legislation Introduced During 2002 Reviewed

IMMIGRANTS & PUBLIC BENEFITS

Driver's Licenses

FEDERAL DRIVER'S LICENSE LEGISLATION INTRODUCED DURING 2002 REVIEWED
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 16, No. 7, November 22, 2002

Since the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., of Sept. 11, 2001, several members of Congress have introduced legislation designed to shift from the states to the federal government the responsibility for setting the standards for how driver's licenses are issued and who is eligible to obtain them. This despite the fact that several states have already considered or passed legislation that restricts the ability of non–U.S. citizens to obtain driver's licenses.

The states' legislative efforts were prompted, at least in part, by reports that some of the men involved in the 9/11 attacks had state-issued driver's licenses. To date, proposed or approved driver's license-related provisions include new requirements that license applicants provide proof of lawful immigration status, new special time limits on the validity of licenses, and new requirements that applicants provide proof of the validity of the Social Security numbers they present. (A more complete listing of state driver's license-related legislation is available at the NILC Web site: www.nilc.org.) State government organizations such as the Council of State Governments are also promoting methods to ensure that states issue secure driver's licenses and have access to information from other states about drivers' records.

Some of the federal bills introduced by U.S. representatives and senators are directly aimed at restricting access to licenses by non–U.S. citizens. But some of the bills also would affect citizens, because their passage could eventually lead to the establishment of a national identification system or the collection of data on everyone who applies for a driver's license, regardless of their immigration status. Though none of the proposed federal bills have passed Congress, they are likely to be reintroduced in the next session.

Here is a brief summary of these bills:

HR 4043 (Rep. Flake, introduced Mar. 3, 2002). This bill would bar federal agencies from accepting any state-issued driver's license unless the state requires licenses issued to nonimmigrant aliens to expire when their nonimmigrant visas expire. The House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims approved the bill on May 2, 2002, and forwarded it to the full Judiciary Committee, which took no further action.

HR 5322, Driver's License Integrity Act (Rep. Cantor, introduced Sept. 4, 2002). This bill would limit the period of validity of a nonimmigrant's state-issued driver's license card to the period of validity of the his or her visa. It was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary on Sept. 4, 2002, and then to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims on Oct. 7, 2002. The latter committee took no further action on the bill.

HR 4633, Driver's License Modernization Act (Rep. Moran, introduced May 1, 2002). This bill would require states, within five years of its passage, to embed computer chips in the driver's license cards they issue so that the cards would electronically store the data written on the card, as well as biometric data, and encryption and security software. The bill would also require that the cards have the capacity to accept data or software written to them by nongovernmental devices (with the holder's consent). The bill also would require the states to participate in programs to link their motor vehicle department databases, would require that driver's license cards incorporate tamper-resistant security features, and would compel states to adopt procedures for documenting applicants' identity and residence. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Science, and from there to various subcommittees, none of which took further action.

S. 3107, Driver's License Fraud Prevention Act (Senators Durbin and McCain, introduced Oct. 10, 2002). This bill would require the U.S. secretary of Transportation to conduct a study to determine the viability of using a "unique identifier," including some form of biometric identifier, on or in state-issued driver's licenses. It also would allow the secretary to set minimum standards for the processing of applications for driver's licenses and I.D. cards and for preventing fraud in the issuance and use of driver's licenses, although states whose rules conflicted with the standards would not be required to follow them. It would set up a new driver record verification system, to which any law enforcement official would have access. The bill does not contain any proposed explicit restrictions based on immigration status, however. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology, which took no further action.

The above-described driver's license bills would insert the federal government directly into an area that traditionally has been exclusively under state control. The Flake and Moran bills would make it harder for non–U.S. citizens, whether documented or undocumented, to obtain driver's licenses. The proposals ignore the complexity of immigration law and the problems inherent in verifying a person's immigration status; they would allow untrained state driver's license department employees to make determinations about applicants' immigration status. Moreover, they do nothing to ensure public safety on the roads, which is the fundamental purpose of issuing licenses to drivers.

The Moran and Durbin-McCain bills raise the specter of huge new databases of information being created on citizens and noncitizens alike, to which both governmental and nongovernmental entities likely would have access. This worries privacy, civil rights, and immigrants' rights advocacy groups, which also warn that creation of a national identity card would be the next step.

And while the Moran and Durbin-McCain bills do not provide for explicit restrictions on access to driver's licenses based on the applicant's immigration status, they do not preclude the secretary of Transportation from establishing such restrictions. These or similar bills are sure to be reintroduced in the next session of Congress.