![\"A](\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse-336x220.jpg\")
<\/a>Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>
A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.<\/p><\/div>\n
The ban also applies to licenses from four other states and American Samoa — which, like New Mexico, have failed for years to meet the requirements of the federal REAL ID Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAll federal agencies including DOD must comply with the law regarding the use of REAL IDs for official purposes,\u201d\u00a0the U.S.\u00a0Department of Defense\u00a0stated in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces; Fort Bliss in nearby El Paso, Texas; and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque — which is part of the Department of Energy, not the DOD — had already\u00a0stopped accepting New Mexico licenses <\/a>as valid identification cards to enter.\u00a0Wednesday’s announcement is a significant\u00a0expansion of the new federal\u00a0policy of not accepting New Mexico\u00a0driver’s\u00a0licenses.<\/p>\n The change won’t affect people who work on bases. They have separate identification cards. But visitors, such as those trying to visit the museum at WSMR; the stores\u00a0at Fort Bliss, Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, and Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis; and the golf course at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, for example, will have to present alternate forms of ID such as a passport. The same will be true for New Mexicans who want to visit bases in other states while traveling.<\/p>\n The policy leaves room for some exceptions. The DOD news release states that bases “may authorize other alternatives to facilitate installation access, such as a graduation ceremony guest list, escorts, etc.”<\/p>\n The change comes because New Mexico policymakers have for years fought\u00a0a war of words\u00a0over giving driver\u2019s licenses to immigrants who lack legal status instead of bringing the state’s licenses into compliance with the REAL ID Act.<\/p>\n Nothing in the REAL ID Act prohibits states from giving driving privileges to people\u00a0living\u00a0there\u00a0without legal status. Several REAL ID-complaint states have two different types of licenses \u2014 a compliant license that\u2019s valid for federal purposes and given to those who prove legal status, and a noncompliant card for everyone else that\u00a0lets them drive legally.<\/p>\n Gov. Susana Martinez has demanded for years that the Legislature\u00a0repeal New Mexico\u2019s\u00a02003 law that grants licenses to immigrants without legal status. Democrats long fought to keep that law in place even though it wasn\u2019t compliant with REAL ID.<\/p>\n Now all sides are talking about approving a compromise, two-tier system in the legislative session that began Tuesday<\/a>. Proposals from Democrats and Republicans both appear to take licenses away from at least some immigrants who currently hold them. The GOP proposal would likely strip more immigrants of their licenses than the Democrats’ proposal.<\/p>\n