DMV, INS to Check New License Applicants

An agreement to help determine if first-time applicants for driver’s licenses and identification cards are legal U.S. residents has been reached by the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, state officials said.

The 1993 Legislature passed and Gov. Pete Wilson signed into law a bill to link up the state and federal agencies in an effort to crack down on rising costs associated with illegal immigrants coming to California.

A DMV spokesman said the intent is to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining a state driver’s license or identification card, which can sometimes help them obtain employment and state benefits.

About 743,000 people will apply for their first California driver’s license this year and 581,000 others will seek a DMV identification card. The estimated additional cost to check immigration status is $1.1 million.

The statute applies only to first-time applicants. It has no provision for checking illegal immigrants who are already licensed and wish to renew their licenses or cards.

Under the agreement, the DMV will be able to query the INS computer database to determine if a first-time applicant is qualified.

For each inquiry, the INS will provide the department with the person’s immigration status, alien registration number, first and last name, date and country of birth, date of initial entry into the United States, and in the case of non-immigrants, the expiration date of the person’s authorized stay in the United States.

“The DMV came to us for assistance and we are gratified that we were able to accommodate the state’s needs and pull this agreement together in a relatively short time,” said C.M. McCullough, acting western regional administrator for the INS.

McCullough emphasized that the DMV, not the INS, will make the final decision on whether an individual receives a state driver’s license or identification card.

The department still has to sign a contract with Martin Marietta Corp., the company that maintains and processes the INS database, to gain direct access to the system.