Illegal immigrants drawn to 3 states for driver's licenses

Illegal immigrants drawn to 3 states for driver's licenses

Sharp increase in N.M., Utah and Wash. tied to Arizona's crackdown Advertisement . Manuel Valdes / AP

Carlos Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant, watches his 2-year-old daughter play near his apartment building in Burien, Wash., on Aug. 11. Hernandez, 31, moved his family from Arizona after a new strict new immigration law was approved there.By Manuel Valdes and Tim Korte
updated 8/13/2010 5:41:39 PM ET

BURIEN, Washington — Carlos Hernandez packed up his family and left Arizona after the state passed its sweeping immigration crackdown. The illegal immigrant's new home outside Seattle offered something Arizona could not: a driver's license.

Three states — Washington, New Mexico and Utah — allow illegal immigrants to get licenses because their laws do not require proof of citizenship or legal residency. An Associated Press analysis found that those states have seen a surge in immigrants seeking IDs in recent months, a trend experts attribute to crackdowns on illegal immigration in Arizona and elsewhere.

"It's difficult being undocumented and not having an identification," said Hernandez, of Puebla, Mexico. "You can use the Mexican ID, but people look down on it." An American driver's license is also a requirement for many jobs.

The immigration debate has thrown a spotlight on the license programs, which supporters say make financial sense because unlicensed drivers typically do not carry car insurance. Opponents insist the laws attract illegal immigrants and criminals.

"Washington state and New Mexico have been magnet states for the fraudulent document brokers, human traffickers and alien smugglers for years," said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C.

State officials in New Mexico dispute that claim.

He said there is mounting evidence that the spike in license applications is a result of pressure on immigrants in states such as Arizona and Oklahoma, where police have been authorized to help enforce federal immigration laws.