The license for those who provide proof of "legal presence" would become an official identification card, for use at airports, banks and other places that require ID. The other license would be for driving privileges only and would be stamped "not for identification."

My question about this is the one I asked legislators to their faces during the last session and no one had a good answer:

There are many of us who were born in other states. The birth certificate we used years ago to get a drivers license may be from a hospital instead of a state document with an embossed seal. I checked from in my native state I would have to download a form, send it with a check to the Vital Statistics (or whatever ) dept. to get an "official" birth certificate. That is time and money. Some of those talking about this fail to mention time and money could be involved before natives of other states could get this documentation for a new license.

And how fast would they put this into effect? Would those with license expiration dates in the next decade need to renew sooner? Where will DMV get the staffing for all of this, incl. new training for the new licenses?

The anti-immigration folks (including some of my family members) think that unless you are in the country 100% legally that you should have absolutely no access to a driver's license, schools, colleges, hospitols unless you can pay out of pocket, food banks or anything else. They believe that the "easy way" to take care of the problem is to remove any type of a living from these people and that they will self-deport. It's all very hipocritical to me. We have spent billions and sacrified so much to "bring democracy" to Iraq because it was in essence a crappy country ruled by a crappy person and since "America is the Best" we needed to show them the way. But when people living in a crappy country with crappy leaders want to COME HERE, to be shown the way its not acceptable. Immigration is a trickey issue. I don't believe we should have open borders but I do believe that every person that wants to come work here and make their lives better should have the opportunity.

Here's a wild idea. How about the state issue ID cards & drivers licenses to all individuals who apply and provide proper documentation. U.S. citizens, non U.S. citizens with valid green cards, visas, etc. You know- people with verifiable identities who played by the rules and are here legally. Accuse me of being a "nativist loony", but the very notion of government pumping out identification cards to foreign nationals who entered this country illegally (which of course is entirely different than "immigrants") strikes me as...well, loony.

But there are some who can't -- or don't want to -- hand over citizenship documents...”

Then these people shouldn’t get a driver’s license. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

The governor is considering following the Utah model, which allows for the "driving only" license to those who can't prove they're legal residents of the state.

Get the necessary documents together proving you are in this country “100% legally" and then apply for a license. That’s not an unreasonable requirement. Issuing licenses to anybody illegally in the country is absurd.

Why is this even an issue?

This Governor has been out of touch for years. Illegal is Illegal - Period. No license allowed and the trip home should also be at their own expense (forcedd).

And furthermore, I'd like to know where the heck Kulengougeme gets off giving illegals any free healthcare or any reduced cost oregon give plan benefits. What a dork.

Kulengougeme is even a looser in the demos musterbation race. Not even a handful. Just why must we let them drive home? They should walk or run, like the way they got here.

Obviously there's some end in mind. Sounds like it helps implement some other agenda. Do we have concrete evidence what that is? That's what I'd focus on.

People that are cynics about parties being circle jerks can too easily point to the Oregon Governors that don't easily divide (performace wise) along party lines.

Here's a referendumb for y'all... All gubernatorial candidates run as independents. Kind of like in the Catholic church in the middle ages where you gave up being a member of an order if you were going to be elected Pope.

I think it's too bad that we're so socialized in this state, because we're so dependent on the federal government to fund so many state programs that we can't tell them to FUCK OFF when it comes to something like the Real I.D. Act. No, we'll just find some back door way to comply with this ridiculous federal mandate, regardless of how creepy it may be. We wouldn't want to piss off the feds, now would we? No, because then they won't let us suck on that government teet...

Governor Kulongoski's goal is to see that every person operating a motor vehicle in Oregon has a license to drive and has taken the prerequisite rules-of-the-road safety instruction that goes with it.

I couldn't agree more.

This argument shouldn't be more complicated than that.

i love how some people think that if we don't give undocumented workers drivers' licenses, not only will they not drive, they'll just pack their bags & walk home across the desert.

right.

they're here, they want to work, they're going to work, and they're very likely going to drive to work.

let's make sure they have insurance, and if they need drivers' licenses to do that, then so be it.

the DMV shouldn't be put in the position of doing INS's job for them, any more than schools or hospitals should be.

For all you folks that think having illegal aliens, encouraging illegal aliens, and pandering to illegal aliens is a good thing, PLEASE sign your name to a form saying that YOU will pay the cost. YOU sign up to pay for their 'free' healthcare, their 'free' education, and their 'free' incarceration. Thanks for making Oregon the world known magnet state to get fraudulent ID. And Trishka, how are these new little pieces of paper going to make any difference? Since there is NO WAY to really identify someone with no SSN, no phone, no real address, etc. why would any of them spend any money on car insurance? Are you kidding? Is there any critical thought around here? You are correct in stating the ODMV does not do INS's job, they ACTIVELY WORK AGAINST THEM. Put YOUR money where your mouth is, not mine.

I have a suggestion. Issue a driver license with photo and that is Real ID compliant to those who have the papers to verify their identities. To those who aren't able or unwilling, issue them the alternate license. Allow people to upgrade their license when they obtain the necessary documents, irregardless of whether the license if due for renewal. That will allow people who, for various reasons, don't have the documentation to get an ID type driver license to get the alternate and still be able to drive to work and obtain insurance to drive.

Now here's the catch. Don't put the picture on the alternate license. That way it can't be used for ID, at least not my most banks, stores when they happen to ask for ID, etc. Have DMV take the picture though. That way the pic is in the database and accessible to DMV when the license is renewed and can be cross checked at the time of renewal. BTW that is something that DMV does anyway and has for as long as they've been putting pics on the cards. I have a friend who is a lead worker at a DMV office and she has caught several people trying to get false ID/licenses at DMV. When your picture is taken and you are asked to have a seat for a few minutes, it's because they're comparing the old pic with the one you just had taken. If the two don't jibe, you don't get the card and the police are called. If DMV is capturing images that can be used with facial recognition software, and I believe they are now as my understanding is that this is one of the requirements of real ID compliant licenses and ID, they will be able to compare, eventually, all the images in the database and in so doing, DMV will be able to tell if someone's trying to obtain a false identity anyway. This process is automated and very fast. Eventually, when all of the old driver licenses and IDs have been rolled over into the new system, you won't even need to search the system by name or social security number, those identifiers can be cross checked via the persons picture. Facial recognition software operates on bone structure, so things like fancy makeup don't really work to fool it.

The only reason to have a pic on a card that's not valid for ID is to make it easier for a cop who has pulled you over to ID you. They already have access to your DMV record via the terminal in their patrol car, I would be surprised if they didn't have access to the photo in DMV's database also. I would think that a cop would be able to remember what the pic on the terminal in his/her vehicle looks like long enough to tell if that's the person with the nonID driver license.

As far as ensuring that everyone driving on the public roads has insurance, the only way to do that is to require everyone in the state to have SR22 type insurance, which I think would go over like a lead balloon, or require insurance purchase at the pump as an added fee to the fuel, which has gone over like a lead balloon every time it's been proposed. Other than that, there is no way to guarantee that people are driving with insurance. With regular insurance there is no reporting to the state done by the insurer if the policy is dropped or canceled.

Anyway, just a thought.

You won't be happy until every time anyone has to pee, some jack booted thug is saying "papers please", and you're pulling out a license that says "genuine American"..

Now now, this is a forum for progressives to exchange honest ideas and opinions. But since you can’t present a serious argument supporting your position it’s nice to see you’ve mastered amusing fits of hyperbole.

Good stuff. Keep the comedy coming!