» Gov. May Compromise On Licenses

Gov. Susana Martinez, in a potential change of course, said Tuesday that she would consider legislation to create a driver’s permit for illegal immigrants if the proposed permit card could not be used for identification or used to get a driver’s license in another state.

“If we have something that proposes that, and takes care of public safety, I’m certainly willing to take a look at it,” Martinez said Tuesday.

Public safety concerns previously cited by the Republican governor have centered on non-residents fraudulently obtaining New Mexico driver’s licenses for identification purposes.

Her comments Tuesday are in contrast to her position during the 2012 legislative session, when she warned she would veto any legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to drive legally in New Mexico.

Legislative leaders in the current session — both Republican and Democratic — say they’re interested in considering a driver’s permit option as a compromise to end the two-year legislative standoff over Martinez’s push to repeal a 2003 law that allows driver’s licenses to be issued to illegal immigrants.

MARTINEZ: Comments contrast previous position

“I’ve made a commitment that I will cross the aisle and see where we can come together on a compromise that satisfies public safety,” Martinez said Tuesday. “If it satisfies our public safety and keeps people from coming from all over the world to New Mexico to present fraudulent documents to claim that they live here and then leave our state with an ID, a driver’s license that looks just like mine and yours, then we are not doing what is right by New Mexicans.”

No legislation detailing a proposed driver’s permit has been introduced, but several legislators say they’re having discussions about how to create a driver’s permit system that works in New Mexico while ending the broader practice of granting illegal immigrants full-fledged driver’s licenses.

The governor said her willingness to support a driver’s permit option “depends on how the bill is written.”

Among those negotiating legislation for a driver’s permit are Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, and Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, — both of whom support the governor’s effort to repeal full-fledged licenses for illegal immigrants.

Some opponents of the driver’s license repeal, including Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, also have said they would consider a permit option and will join negotiations over driver’s permit legislation,

“What we’re trying to do is at least start the discussion regarding the possibility of a compromise,” Campos said.

Driver’s permits for illegal immigrants currently are issued in Utah with an ID card printed with the phrase “Not Valid for Identification, Driver’s Privilege Only.”

The state of Illinois recently approved a two-tier driver’s license allowing illegal immigrants to drive with a temporary ID that state lawmakers say cannot be used to board an airplane or enter a federal building.

Past legislative proposals in New Mexico for an illegal immigrant driver’s permit failed to address public safety concerns because the permit cards would have looked too similar to the state’s driver’s license for citizens, the governor said.

One permit proposal in 2012 would have denoted the illegal immigrant driver’s permit with a new single-letter classification code near the bottom of a driver’s license card that otherwise mirrors the regular licenses currently issued to New Mexico residents.

However, some have questioned whether a distinctly marked illegal immigrant driving permit would subject immigrants to discrimination.

House Speaker Ken Martinez, D-Grants, said this week that he would consider a driver’s permit option if the permit card is not perceived as anti-immigrant.

“The balance there is to make sure it’s a license that does what we would like it to do, which is to help these folks come out from underneath the shadows and be properly licensed, insured,” Speaker Martinez said, “not create a license that’s a scarlet letter that they would be afraid to get.”
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal