The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)
Most agree that policymakers need to address issues with the law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, but the governor and many Democrats are at odds over what to do. A victory by either side or a compromise appears to be unlikely again this year.
An investigation has found potential fraud by some immigrants who have New Mexico driver’s licenses; a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez says that’s another sign that the state’s license “is not secure.”
The Associated Press investigation, which was detailed in a Tuesday article, found that “addresses of dozens of the same businesses and homes across New Mexico were used over and over again by people to get driver’s licenses in a pattern that suggests potential fraud by immigrants trying to game the system.”
For example, “In one instance, 48 foreign nationals claimed to live at a smoke shop in Albuquerque to get a license,” the report states. “In another case, more than a dozen claimed to live at an automotive repair shop over a one-year period.”
Martinez and some others might tout the report as additional evidence of the need to repeal the New Mexico law – one of only two in the nation – that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses. But Democrats in the N.M. Senate caucused Tuesday and decided to dig in their heels, insisting that amending the current law, not repealing it, is the way to go.
“This issue has drawn national attention and it has made one thing very clear: The current law must be strengthened to include provisions that clearly address the flaws,” Senate Democrats said in a statement released after they emerged from their caucus. “Repealing the law and forcing a fraction of the driving population to go without proper licensing, registration or insurance puts New Mexican families at risk.”
With both sides agreeing that there’s a problem that needs fixed but set in their opposing views about how to do it – amending the law versus repealing it – the debate over the issue appears to be headed for the same bitter and divisive train wreck that consumed so much time during the Legislature’s last regular session a year ago.
The debate could ramp up this afternoon, when the House Human and Labor Resources Committee is scheduled to consider HB 103, sponsored by Rep. Andy Nuñez, I-Hatch. That’s the Martinez-backed bill that would repeal the driver’s license law.
You’ll be able to watch the committee hearing by clicking here; the start time depends on when the floor session ends and other factors. If the debate over Nuñez’s bill happens today, NMPolitics.net will liveblog it.
House, Senate likely at odds again
The debate over the issue was often tense during the 2011 regular session. After a House committee tabled Nuñez’s bill, he pushed for a procedural vote that would bypass committees and bring the bill to the floor for consideration. Speaker Ben Luján delayed that attempt with a controversial ruling to adjourn for the day.
But that didn’t stop Nuñez. Following two days of policy debate and procedural wrangling, eight Democrats joined him and the GOP caucus in passing the Martinez-backed repeal bill.
The Senate later voted to keep licenses for undocumented immigrants, passing what Senate Democrats called compromise legislation that would implement “stricter and tougher requirements for foreign nationals to obtain driver’s licenses,” including “a six-month residency requirement as well as fingerprints for foreign nationals in order to be eligible for a N.M. driver’s license.”
Martinez said she would veto the Senate bill, and lawmakers couldn’t reconcile differences between the two pieces of legislation, so the debate died.
Nuñez intends to force a floor vote on his bill this year, if necessary, and there’s a good chance the House will pass it again. If the Tuesday statement from Senate Democrats holds, there’s little chance of that chamber passing Nuñez’s bill.
“There are more than 90,000 foreign nationals with licenses, and 97 percent of them have complied with our state’s licensing requirements,” Senate Democrats said in their statement. “Repealing the law would not advance public safety, would not help law enforcement and would not eliminate instances of fraud. A sweeping approach may create safety issues. We need to address those actually committing fraud while making sure that everyone driving is licensed, registered and insured.”
Pleas for compromise
Martinez has threatened to inflict election pain on those who oppose her effort to repeal the law – an effort polling has shown is backed by the majority of New Mexicans. All lawmakers’ seats are up for grabs this year, and Martinez’s political action committee has half million dollars in the bank.
Still, at least two Democratic lawmakers representing swing districts are sticking their necks out by seeking compromise. In the House, Rep. Bill O’Neill, D-Albuquerque, has sponsored legislation that, in his words, “repeals the 2003 law and substitutes instead a provisional license for these same foreign nationals who do not have a Social Security number.”
“With this license they can still secure car insurance, and lawfully drive themselves to work, or to church, or to school to pick up their children. It cannot, however, be used to travel outside of New Mexico – this license would have no validity outside of our state borders,” O’Neill wrote in a guest column submitted to NMPolitics.net that has not yet been published.
“I urge both sides – immigrant rights activists as well as Republican opponents – to be willing to tackle the problem with true compromise in the interest of good public policy for all New Mexicans,” O’Neill wrote.
Sen. Steve Fischmann, D-Las Cruces, has introduced a bill he says would comprehensively address immigration issues, rather than taking on only the license issue.
“As anti-license proponents rail at the opposition for supporting de facto open borders, and pro-license proponents decry their opposition as mean spirited racists, we seem to be headed down the same well-worn path that defines most of our current politics,” Fischmann wrote in a guest column NMPolitics.net published Tuesday. “It leads to a land where everybody hates each other and no meaningful problem is ever solved.”
“We don’t have to go there. Let’s drop the political soap opera and get down to the real work,” Fischmann wrote.
One provision in Fischmann’s bill is similar to O’Neill’s – it would create “driving privilege cards for guest workers that qualify as New Mexico ID only.” Utah is the only state with such a law on the books.
Already, one immigrants-rights group has stated opposition to Fischmann’s bill, saying it allows for discrimination by “institutionalizing differentiated driver’s licenses” and creating “the opportunity for profiling.”
Martinez, with public opinion on her side, wasn’t willing to budge last year. She’s given no indication that this year will be any different.