Nearly 400,000 California driver’s licenses were issued to undocumented immigrants in the first half of this year as part of a massive effort to allow them to drive legally in the Golden State, officials announced Friday.
During the first six months that the Safe Driver and Responsibility Act — or AB 60 — went into effect, the Department of Motor Vehicles saw more than 600,000 applications from undocumented immigrants. Of those, state officials said, 397,000 met all requirements to drive in California — more than half the overall total of 759,000 licenses distributed for the same time period.
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It’s unclear how many of those who obtained licenses under AB 60 registered vehicles or bought insurance, DMV officials said. But there appears to be no spike in the increases in vehicle registration seen in the last few years due to improvements in the economy, according to the agency.
“The latest numbers reflect the continued successful implementation of AB 60,” said DMV Director Jean Shiomoto in a statement. “The DMV was determined to develop a process that would not only meet the stringent requirements of this new law, but also the unique needs of our newly expanded customer base.”
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The DMV prepared for months for the increase in applications and was provided with an additional $141 million in its budget to open temporary offices across the state, conduct community workshops and provide sample tests. The agency also hired nearly 1,000 new employees to help process the applications.
An estimated 1.5 million applications from undocumented immigrants are expected to be processed over the next three years, DMV officials have said.
“We definitely saw a rush in January and February when we were very busy,” said Jennifer Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the DMV. “Now we’re starting to see that trend go down. I think people may be holding back, or maybe they need to study or still get their documents ready.”
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The DMV is continuing to update the type of documents needed to verify identity and residency from more countries, including consular cards from Colombia and Ecuador and passports from Tonga, Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea. Before the additions, people were sent to a “second revision” phase, which meant their applications were put on hold.
But one area where officials look to see improvements is in the results of the written test. Before AB 60, about half of all test takers failed the knowledge exam. That percentage has not changed under the new law, Gonzalez said.
“With AB 60, we promoted studying,” she said. “We were hoping to see that pass-fail rate improve.”
Efforts to better those results are ongoing in the community, said Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA. Her organization launched several courses to help people understand the rules of the road.
One of the challenges CHIRLA found was a literacy issue among test takers. That prompted instructors to find different ways to teach material.
“Many of them don’t have formal education,” Salas said of the immigrant community. “This is the first time that they went to an exam situation.”
Although AB 60 has its critics, who say the licenses normalize the presence of undocumented immigrants in California and the United States, Salas said the DMV program has given people the opportunity to buy better cars and purchase insurance, which can boost their employment opportunities and benefit the overall community.
“We’re a great example to the country,” Salas said of California. “This has been a most successful undertaking. People really trust the program.”