Voters to decide on drivers licenses for illegal immigrants

Illegal immigrants hoping to get an Oregon driver’s license in 2014 under Senate Bill 833 will have to wait at least another year now that enough signatures have been gathered to put the issue to a statewide vote.

In May, Governor John Kitzhaber signed the bill into law, granting those without proof of citizenship the ability to get a card allowing them to drive legally in Oregon starting in 2014. But the citizen group Oregonians for Immigration Reform collected the necessary 58,142 signatures to put a referendum blocking the law onto the November 2014 ballot.

The law would still go into effect if voters reject Referendum 301, but either way the move delays the law until voters have their say, almost a year after it was slated to take effect.

Eddie De La Cruz, a member of Hermiston’s Hispanic Advisory Committee, said it was frustrating to see the law hit a roadblock after it was already signed by the governor.

“It’s actually a raw deal we’re getting back because a lot of work went into it and now it’s getting pushed back before it’s even started,” he said.

Opponents of the new driver’s cards say it grants unearned privileges to people who are breaking the law by being in the country illegally. Richard LaMountain, one of the referendum’s chief sponsors, wrote in a guest column for the Oregonian that “Congress has established laws that regulate who enters our country, at what times and in what numbers.”

“By granting driving privileges to illegal immigrants, the Oregon Legislature has undermined those laws — for the specific purpose, indeed, of benefiting those who’ve deliberately broken them,” he wrote.

But De La Cruz said the driver’s cards are about making Oregon roads safer by giving those without proper papers incentive to learn Oregon’s driving laws and train for a driver’s test.

“We were going to make sure if people are on the road they’re safe and qualified and know what they’re doing,” he said. “Now we’re back to square one.”

He said the law also makes economic sense — Oregon is losing money as immigrants take their earnings to states where they are allowed to drive to work legally.

Now supporters and opponents of Senate Bill 833 have another long fight ahead of them as they work to convince Oregonians to vote their way in 2014.

David House, spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Oregon, said the department had been in the process of training 29 new employees in preparation for the extra workload. Those workers have been let go now that the law that funded them won’t take effect in January.

“Programming, procedures, fliers — everything has been put on hold,” House said.

He said if the referendum fails during the Nov. 2014 election the Driver’s Card Program will begin 30 days later.