Immigration News & Opinion
Sat - May 19, 2012

KRWG News, February 2. A fight over whether to stop undocumented immigrants from getting driver's licenses in New Mexico is on hold temporarily while Democrats make a last-ditch effort to reach a compromise with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez who wants to scrap the license policy. The House Judiciary Committee decided not to take a final vote on the issue late Wednesday night after spending more than four hours debating the politically charged issue. New Mexico and Washington are the only states allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain the same driver's license as a U.S. citizen. Utah grants immigrants a driving permit that can't be used for identification. The committee chairman, Rep. Al Park of Albuquerque, warned that, without a compromise, the struggle over the license issue was shaping up as a repeat of last year when the House voted to stop issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants but the Senate rejected that proposal.