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Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has announced
that the state will suspend further issuance of "certificates for
driving" to people who cannot prove that they are lawfully in the U.S.
Before this announcement, made Feb. 24, 2006, certificates were
available to all state residents who did not meet the immigration status
requirements for a state driver's license.
Tennessee's Department of Safety began issuing
certificates for driving in 2004, and since then it has issued
approximately 51,000 certificates. The law that provided for the
issuance of driving certificates also restricted the issuance of
driver's licenses to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, parolees
(i.e., non-U.S. citizens whom immigration authorities have allowed to
enter the U.S. under a grant of parole), refugees, and asylees. All
other applicants for driving privileges in Tennessee, regardless of
their immigration status, were eligible for a driver's license-size
certificate that on its face bears the notation (in red lettering on a
white background): "for driving
purposes only. not valid for identification" (see "New Tennessee Law Creates 'Driving Certificate'
for Most Noncitizens,"
Immigrants' Rights Update, Aug. 9, 2004, p. 3).
Under Tennessee's recently announced revised
policy, applicants for a driving certificate will have to prove that
they are in a lawful immigration status. The announcement follows a
series of media reports that undocumented immigrants had been traveling
to Tennessee from out of state in order to apply for driving
certificates, using forged documents to make it appear that they resided
in Tennessee. State employees also had been convicted of accepting
bribes to issue certificates to out-of-state residents. How long the
revised policy will remain in place is unclear. In a press release
issued by the Dept. of Safety, its commissioner stated that he wanted to
give the policy a "thorough review to ensure that we are doing what's
best for Tennesseans."
The law under which driving certificates are
issued replaced a 2001 law that allowed state residents, regardless of
their immigration status, to obtain driver's licenses. The certificate
law represented a compromise between those who wanted to eliminate
undocumented immigrants' eligibility for driver's licenses and those who
wanted to maintain the 2001 law.
Meanwhile, a bill has been filed in the state
legislature that would eliminate the certificate and allow all lawfully
present immigrants to obtain a driver's license. The Dept. of Safety
has stated that it will work with legislators on this measure.
By
Tyler Moran, NILC policy analyst
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