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KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Governor Susana Martinez continues her push to ban driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. On Thursday, her bill that would accomplish that has undergone some major changes that certainly will not please Martinez. Democrats in the majority on the House Labor Committee amended the governor’s proposal to basically allow the state to keep issuing the licenses, but with more restrictions. The Democrats' move comes a day after the Associated Press published results of an investigation showing what appears to be fairly widespread fraud in the issuing of the licenses, especially in the multiple uses of 170 addresses for 2,662 license applicants who are foreigners. One of the addresses is for a smoke shop. "When you read how many people are coming in from all over the world in here, Pakistan - you've seen that just recently - and from Colombia and everywhere, and so we gotta put a stop to it," said Rep. Andy Nunez, the Hatch Independent who sponsored the governor's bill. But Nunez saw the Labor Committee pull the bill's teeth tonight. Illegal immigrants would still be able to get licenses, but with tougher residency requirements, two year limits and increased penalties for any fraud artists who might get caught in license scams. Rep. Bill O'Neill, an Albuquerque Democrat, introduced a compromise bill that would allow provisional licenses for illegal immigrants that would only be valid in New Mexico. "But they're not real licenses," O'Neill said. "They are provisional licenses. They cannot travel with them but they can get insurance, they can drive their kids to school, they can drive themselves to work." Compromises usually don't please people with rigid opinions on hot-button issues, and O'Neill ruefully admits that both immigrant-advocates and the governor's side actively dislike his bill. Since the current state law went into effect in 2003, more than 90,000 licenses have been issued to immigrants in New Mexico, and state officials say most of them are probably immigrants. It's hard to say for sure, because license applicants are not asked about their immigration status.
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New Mexico Legislature rejects driver's license ban
From KOB-TV.com - By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Governor Susana Martinez continues her push to ban driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. On Thursday, her bill that would accomplish that has undergone some major changes that certainly will not please Martinez. Democrats in the majority on the House Labor Committee amended the governor’s proposal to basically allow the state to keep issuing the licenses, but with more restrictions. The Democrats' move comes a day after the Associated Press published results of an investigation showing what appears to be fairly widespread fraud in the issuing of the licenses, especially in the multiple uses of 170 addresses for 2,662 license applicants who are foreigners. One of the addresses is for a smoke shop. "When you read how many people are coming in from all over the world in here, Pakistan - you've seen that just recently - and from Colombia and everywhere, and so we gotta put a stop to it," said Rep. Andy Nunez, the Hatch Independent who sponsored the governor's bill. But Nunez saw the Labor Committee pull the bill's teeth tonight. Illegal immigrants would still be able to get licenses, but with tougher residency requirements, two year limits and increased penalties for any fraud artists who might get caught in license scams. Rep. Bill O'Neill, an Albuquerque Democrat, introduced a compromise bill that would allow provisional licenses for illegal immigrants that would only be valid in New Mexico. "But they're not real licenses," O'Neill said. "They are provisional licenses. They cannot travel with them but they can get insurance, they can drive their kids to school, they can drive themselves to work." Compromises usually don't please people with rigid opinions on hot-button issues, and O'Neill ruefully admits that both immigrant-advocates and the governor's side actively dislike his bill. Since the current state law went into effect in 2003, more than 90,000 licenses have been issued to immigrants in New Mexico, and state officials say most of them are probably immigrants. It's hard to say for sure, because license applicants are not asked about their immigration status. Read more
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