California Driver’s License Program for Undocumented Immigrants Exceeds 1 Million Drivers

Last month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles announced that over 1 million undocumented immigrants have received driver’s licenses. Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo stated,

Immigrants are getting tested, licensed and insured and this is making our roads safer for everyone. Today, we see the law working the way it was intended to and has dramatically improved the lives of a million immigrants and their families.

In 2013, Alejo was an Assemblyman and authored Assembly Bill 60 (AB 60), which required California DMV offices to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants as long as they can prove their identity and residence within the state. As of March 31, the law has led to 1,001,000 undocumented immigrants receiving licenses. However, the license doesn’t give the licensees the freedom to drive outside of California or fly across state or federal borders. The law first took effect in 2015 and approximately 605,000 undocumented immigrants received licenses. Less people applied after that initial spike, but the DMV now issues about 10,000 AB 60 licenses statewide per month. We will have to wait and see if the number of AB 60 licenses continues to increase.

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