Marchers urge Davis to support driver's licenses for undocumented aliens

North County Times ^ | 6/22/03 | EDWARD SIFUENTES

[One_American]

EDWARD SIFUENTES
Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- A group of about 200 people marched to the Department of Motor Vehicles offices in Escondido on Saturday, but most of them don't have access to the services it provides.

The largely Latino and undocumented crowd were chanting loudly and carrying signs in support of a bill making its way through the state Legislature that would grant illegal immigrants the ability to apply for California-issued driver's licenses and identification cards.

"This would be a benefit to everyone, because it would mean safer roads," said Gustavo Munguia, who organized the march.

Munguia and others have organized several similar demonstrations throughout North County in recent years urging the governor to support licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Gov. Gray Davis has rejected several such bills.

Many of the demonstrators said they were unlicensed but drove regularly out of necessity to work, to doctor's appointments, to pick up their children at school and to do other family chores.

"We need the opportunity to drive legally," said Rolando Campos, of Solana Beach. "We all need to be able to drive."

Campos, who walked among the other marchers with his daughter, said he has been ticketed and jailed for driving without a license.

Men, women and children marched during the three-hour demonstration that began at the city's Grape Day Park along Broadway Avenue and continued to the DMV office and City Hall. Many in the group were carrying signs stating: "Without a license, we are a risk to other drivers."

State Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, authored this year's Senate Bill 60, which would allow people who do not have legal status in the country to be eligible to apply for a state driver's license or identification card. The bill also would permit license applicants to submit a federal taxpayer identification number rather than the required social security number Californians must provide to obtain a driver's license.

Supporters of licenses for undocumented immigrants say giving them driver's licenses will make roads safer because they will be required to take driver's exams and have auto insurance. Critics contend such a policy would in effect reward illegal immigrants, encourage more illegal immigration and diminish national security.

Since 2000, Cedillo has introduced several bills that would give some immigrants licenses and each has failed to get the governor's approval because of concerns about national security.

"The tragedy of Sept. 11 made it abundantly clear that the driver's license is more than just a license to drive," Davis wrote in his veto message last year's version of the bill. "Unfortunately, a driver's license was in the hands of terrorists who attacked America that fateful day."

In 2001, Cedillo withdrew an earlier version of the bill after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast. When he brought the bill back, it included several security provisions such as required finger printing and criminal background checks for immigrants applying for the licenses.

Munguia said security is not the issue, but rather that Davis is simply unwilling to give immigrants the privilege of licenses.

"The Assembly and the Senate, who represent the people, have passed it, but it is Davis who has refused to sign it," he said.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

[janetgreen]

Don't bother going back there unless you speak fluent Spanish, not much English is spoken there.