11/9/04-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said recently he would not sign legislation to grant illegal immigrants driver’s licenses unless the documents carry some kind of clear marking to indicate they are different from citizens’ licenses, such as color coding.
Schwarzenegger made the statement during a press conference last week.
Several bills calling for the licenses have been introduced in the state’s General Assembly in the past year or two, but none have become law.
“I have already made it very clear it has to be a different color driver’s license, so it’s very clear,” the governor said. “It has to be very clearly identified that this is a driver’s license of an undocumented immigrant.”
Schwarzenegger said the licenses should also have the words “foreigner” or “immigrant” printed on them.
“It doesn’t have to say ‘illegal immigrant.’ I’m not into that,” he said.
The governor also said the licenses must be produced in a way that makes it “very clear that this identification is only for driving, and not for anything else.”
“We have to make sure that everyone understands that this should not be used for creating more documents for yourself,” he said. “It should not be used for opening bank accounts or anything like this.”
“You can do all of those things, but this drivers license is only for one thing, and this is what you have been fighting for, and this is to drive safely and legally.”
The issue is certain to be a point of contention again next year in the General Assembly. Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, the author of a previous bill calling for licenses to be issued to illegal immigrants, indicated in a news release that he intends to introduce another such bill in 2005.