Illegal Immigrants in Virginia to Be Offered Legal Driving Permits from Jan. 1
It's expected 300,000 illegal immigrants will apply for Virginia's permits
© press
Virginia will offer illegal immigrants the chance to apply for legal driving permits on 1 January 2021, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced.
People illegally residing in the U.S state will now be able to apply for “driver privilege cards.”
It is now expected that 300,000 illegal immigrants will apply for Virginia's permits, The Washington Post reported.
A list of requirements needed to qualify for a driver privilege card was listed on the BMV website:
You are a non-US citizen who is a resident of Virginia.
You have reported income from Virginia sources or are claimed as a dependent on a tax return filed in Virginia in the past 12 months.
Your driving privilege is not currently suspended or revoked in Virginia or any other state, including insurance-related infractions.
© press
The DMV website adds:
“A driver privilege card is not REAL ID-compliant and, as such, may not be used as identification to board a flight or enter a secure federal facility."
"Driver privilege card applicants are not eligible for a commercial driver’s license or identification card."
Applicants must also pay a $50 fee as well as show:
Two proofs of identity
Two proofs of Virginia residency
Proof of your social security number (if you have been issued one) or your individual taxpayer identification number
Tax return documentation
This year, Neon Nettle reported Democrat lawmakers passed the bill to grant driver privilege cards to illegal aliens.
While Virginia's General Assembly resisted passing legislation giving full-fledged drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants, lawmakers did advance a measure granting them driving privilege cards.
© press
“I cannot tell you all how important this is for about 300,000 people living in Virginia,” said Democrat Sen. Scott Surovell, who pushed the bill in the state Senate.
“This bill is going to change people’s lives.”
Spokesman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Matthew Tragesser, told The Daily Caller:
“Giving any form of driving privileges to illegal aliens not only undermines public safety but national security as well."
“Providing these cards incentivizes more illegal immigration, rewards lawbreakers, and jeopardizes our national security.”
Advocates for the new law claim it will aid economic growth by granting illegal immigrants’ greater mobility.
“It makes our families and communities safer: safer from being unfairly caught up in the criminal justice system and deportation pipeline for just trying to get to church or a child’s school and safer from being on the roads with unlicensed drivers,” Laura Goren, research director of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, argued.
Meanwhile, activists are pushing for more protections for illegal immigrants who have permits to reduce their chance of being deported.
“Of course, there will always be those risks that each person needs to take into account before applying for a driver privilege card,” Edgar Aranda-Yanoc, the lead organizer of the immigration advocacy program at the Legal Aid Justice Center, told the Times-Dispatch.
“That’s why it’s our goal as activists to secure those privacy protections and completely close the window that could give ICE access to this information in the upcoming General Assembly session.”
