Calif. law allows undocumented individuals to drive legally

Undocumented individuals in California, including those in the UCLA community, will soon be able to legally share the road with other drivers.

Gov. Jerry Brown officially signed a measure into law last week that allows undocumented individuals to apply for a driver’s license starting in 2015.

“This is only the first step,” Brown said in a speech after signing the bill. “When a million people without their documents drive legally and with respect in the state of California, the rest of this country will have to stand up and take notice.”

Ingrid Eagly, UCLA law professor researching immigration law, said California has been passing policies to integrate undocumented individuals in society, while the federal government has not been able to pass immigration reform.

The Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement that it will need to prepare applications for an estimated 1.4 million undocumented individuals who are eligible to apply for the license under the new law.

Eagly said the new law will help increase public safety since undocumented drivers will have to learn official driving rules and take driving tests.

“California is making a positive step forward by allowing all state residents, regardless of immigration status, to obtain a license,” Eagly said.

Blanca Villagomez, a third-year sociology student, said her father is afraid of being pulled over and deported when he drives because he is undocumented.

“(Being pulled over) is definitely one of the biggest fears we have,” Villagomez said.

Because there was a traffic checkpoint on the way to UCLA that could have caught her father driving without a license, Villagomez said she and her father had to wait a day before moving into her apartment.

She said her undocumented parents no longer have to be afraid of being caught when her father drives her to UCLA.

“The fear they get everytime they’re in a car is now gone,” Villagomez said.

Villagomez qualified for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was implemented last year by University of California President Janet Napolitano, then-secretary of homeland security. The policy allows undocumented individuals like Villagomez to live and work in the U.S. if they meet certain criteria.

California already allows deferred action individuals to receive a driver’s license.

Francisco Lopez, a fourth-year Chicana/o studies student who qualifies for deferred action, said that although he does not directly benefit from the law, he can take comfort that the law will bring relief to his family.

“It won’t make (undocumented individuals) be afraid of being stopped when taking their children to school,” Lopez said. “It is huge to recognize these people’s rights.”

The law, however, requires the state to create a different design for the new licenses, and recommends labeling the licenses DP for “driving privilege” instead of DL for “driver’s license.” Opponents cite this requirement will have many unintended consequences.

Immigrant rights advocates are concerned because the immediate distinction of a person’s legal status can still open the opportunity for discrimination, Eagly said.

“I was angry about the ‘driving privilege’ title because people can immediately look at us in a different light,” Villagomez said.

Others opposed to the bill, including Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of California’s 33rd District, believe the special designation on the license will cause problems with employers.

Donnelly argues that businesses will be in conflict with following either federal law or state law because the special designation will reveal an individual’s legal status. Federal law prohibits employers from hiring undocumented individuals, but the new law stipulates that businesses cannot deny employment solely on the license.

“It’s not just a license for (undocumented individuals) to drive,” Donnelly said in a statement. “It’s a license to sue potential employers.”

The new law stipulates that law enforcement also cannot use the license as a reason for arrest, detainment, criminal investigations or discrimination.

Soon after the new law was signed, the state passed another law in favor of immigrant rights advocates.

Last week, Gov. Brown also signed the Trust Act into law, which limits how long local law enforcement can detain undocumented individuals who commit minor offenses alone, preventing them from being turned in to federal immigration officials for deportation.