Assembly Bill 60 is an act that aims to “amend, repeal, and add Sections 1653.5, 12800, 12801, and 12801.5 of, and to add Sections 12801.9, 12801.10, and 12801.11 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to driver's licenses” (LegiScan, 2013). In particular, this policy aims to enable some undocumented immigrants to become eligible to apply for driver’s licenses (Rivas, 2013), specifically those who were children when they arrived in California (Bunch, 2013). With this policy, California residents who do not have social security numbers but who pay for their taxes will be able to apply for a driver’s license as long as they can provide identification documents that will serve as proof of their California residency, as well as documents that are ascertained by the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Police Chiefs’ Association. These would include tax and property documents, as well as utility bills. In addition, this policy entails that undocumented immigrants shall receive the same license as the residents who possess a social security number and that the display of the applicant’s individual taxpayer identification number and other identification numbers on the license is prohibited.
This policy was authored by assembly man Luis A. Alejo, D-Salinas (Rivas, 2013) in light of the fact that California has the most number of undocumented immigrants and has about two million undocumented drivers ((Rivas, 2013). According to an AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety report (Alejo & Williams, 2013), car accidents are among the main causes of death in the U.S. Previous studies by the same group also showed that one out of five fatal crashes in America involved either an invalidly licensed or an unlicensed driver (Alejo & Williams, 2013). Moreover, the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, Licensing Operations Division, Research and Development Branch indicated that unlicensed driving was a major safety problem in California (cite Alejo & Williams, 2013). In this regard, AB 60 was proposed with the aim of ensuring that all California drivers receive proper training, are tested, and are insured, which would in turn result in safer roads.
Aside from Alejo who authored the bill, the other stakeholders include the Assembly Transportation Committee, which was responsible for approving the bill; the California Police Chiefs Association whose support is needed for the bill’s enactment; the governor who will also approve the bill; and the public whose opinion over the policy was surveyed through a Field Poll. If the governor approves the law then it must next obtain approval from the Assembly Appropriations Committee in order for it to be enacted.
This law will benefit undocumented immigrants who have resided in California since their childhood. Although majority of the California residents show support for this bill, groups such as the California Coalition for Immigration Reform oppose it on the grounds that it would provide illegal immigrants with access to a number of services and rights that are available to American citizens.
Once enacted, this law will be implemented by the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is responsible for evaluating applications for driver’s licenses and which will issue the said driver’s licenses for the applicants who do meet the requirements indicated by AB 60.
References
Alejo & Williams. (2013, January 7). BILL NUMBER: AB 60 INTRODUCED. Retrieved from
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0051-
0100/ab_60_bill_20130107_introduced.html.
Bunch, B. (2013, January 16). California bill would allow driver licenses for illegal immigrants.
Retrieved from http://ivn.us/2013/01/16/california-bill-would-allow-driver-licenses-for-
illegal-immigrants/.
LegiScan. (2013, September 18). California assembly bill 60 (adjourned sine die). Retrieved
Rivas, J. (2013, April 24). Calif. bill that allows driver’s licenses for undocumented moves
forward. Retrieved from
http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/04/calif_bill_that_allows_drivers_licenses_for_undo
cumented_moves_forward.html.
