Driver’s licenses are urged for undocumented immigrants

State lawmakers Tuesday weighed a proposal that would enable thousands of the state’s immigrants residing in the country illegally to get Hawaii driver’s licenses.

The bill, SB 2935, would allow such immigrants to pre­sent valid foreign passports, consular IDs, birth certificates, U.S. military IDs and other forms of identification to obtain a license.

However, those obtaining licenses would not be able to use them to cross federal borders or travel by plane.

Members of the Senate’s committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, and Transportation and International Affairs listened to testimony on the bill but deferred a vote to Tuesday so they could amend some of its language.

If the measure becomes law, Hawaii would join 11 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in allowing residents to get driver’s licenses regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

"This measure is not about the state … making a statement on illegal immigration. It is straightforward, clear-cut and simple about public safety," said Sen. Will Espero (D, Iroquois Point-Ewa Beach), who heads the Public Safety Committee.

He introduced the measure with Sen. J. Kalani English (D, East Maui-Upcountry -Molokai-Lanai), chairman of the Transportation Committee.

Some 30,000 undocumented immigrants work in Hawaii, making up 4.5 percent of the state workforce, according to Hawaii Coalition for Immigration Reform coordinator Veronica Geronimo. "We are all made safer and benefit if these drivers are trained, tested and insured," she said.

Geronimo and other bill supporters point to data from the AAA Foundation on Traffic Safety that show about 1 in 5 fatal crashes in the United States involve an unlicensed or "invalidly licensed" driver.

HCIR members maintain that allowing immigrants who live here without legal permission to get some sort of license would mean more state-mandated vehicle safety checks, plus more people willing to come forward as witnesses to accidents for police regardless of their legal status.

Among the bill’s opponents are the state Department of Transportation and the City and County of Hono­lulu.

In written testimony they contend that the measure would violate the REAL ID act and reverse Hawaii’s compliance with that program, which sets federal standards for state ID cards.

The Honolulu Police Department argued that it would require much of its staff to become "experts in fraudulent documents" and that drivers with these licenses would still be reluctant to show them to police because it would indicate they’re in Hawaii illegally.

Other agencies, such as the state Departments of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Human Services, support the bill.