Immigration group gears up for referendum on driver's card bill

An immigration group looking to overturn a recently passed law that allows residents without proof of legal presence to get driver’s cards ramped up their efforts Tuesday to bring the issue before Oregon voters.

Beneath a canopy outside the state Capitol, Oregonians for Immigration Reform officials passed out manila envelopes that included signature sheets for a referendum on Senate Bill 833.

The driver’s cards under the bill, which Gov. John Kitzhaber signed in May, would last four years instead of the standard eight years. Driver card applicants must meet other requirements, including knowledge of traffic laws and driving skills.

Sponsors of the referendum efforts would have to gather 58,142 valid signatures and file them by Sept. 26, which is 90 days after the targeted adjournment of the 2013 Legislature. The law would be suspended instead of taking effect in January if enough signatures were gathered to force a statewide election on the bill.

“It’s a herculean task but I think that Oregonians are really angry that this (bill) was rammed through,” said Cynthia Kendoll, the president for Oregonians for Immigration Reform.

The group was also protesting a federal immigration bill that would provide undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. Buttons that read “Stop Illegal Immigration” were scattered on a table.

Supporters of the short-term driver cards argue the bill is about increasing public safety on the state’s roads not about immigration. But opponents say the new law would just condone illegal behavior.

Republican Reps. Sal Esquivel of Medford and Kim Thatcher of Keizer, and Richard LaMountain of Portland, recently filed the referendum papers for the bill with the secretary of state.

Esquivel told about two dozen people gathered on the Capitol steps in the rain that he doesn’t think the bill will help increase public safety and lawmakers who voted for the bill aren’t upholding the law.

“We are a country of laws. If you break the law to come here. Why would we allow that?,” Esquivel asked.

He unrolled a lengthy list of requirements residents have to meet to get a standard driver’s license, arguing that U.S. citizens were being treated as second rate.

Thatcher also announced the introduction of House Bill 3535, which would direct the Oregon Department of Transportation to report annually on the effects of implementing the driver’s card bill.

If the driver’s card bill is overturned, House Bill 3535 would not take effect.

By about 12:30 p.m., the group had distributed about 40 packets to those interested in gathering signatures for the referendum efforts.

If their measure qualifies for a statewide election, it would appear on the November 2014 ballot, although lawmakers can provide for a different date.

Luis Guerra, acting executive director of Causa, an immigration rights association that pushed for the passage of Senate Bill 833, said the group is keeping a close eye on the referendum efforts.

Guerra said that the driver’s card bill got bipartisan support in both legislative chambers and should be viewed as a public safety issue.

“We realize that they have a lot of signatures they need to collect so we’ll prepare as we need to based on how much work we see them accomplish,” he said.