Illegal entrants won't get Arizona driver's licenses

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/...fmst2fjmd.html Illegal entrants won't get Arizona driver's licenses
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX - People in Arizona illegally won't be getting state-issued driver's licenses, at least not this year.

By a 12-11 vote the Senate on Thursday killed a proposal to remove the requirement that people show they either are citizens or in the United States legally to get a license. Foes were unmoved by pleas by Sen. Pete Rios, D-Dudleyville, that people cross the border illegally to work here do so because Arizona employers have become dependent on the regular source of cheap labor.

"We don't want to give a legal document to people who are breaking the law by being here illegally," said Rep. Marilyn Jarrett, R-Mesa.

The vote follows several days of demonstrations at the Capitol. The protesters included people who carried signs saying they were not here legally but wanted to have a license.

Rios said the license is not an end to itself. Instead, he said, it ensures that those who are driving know the rules of the road.

Without a valid Arizona license, the drivers cannot get insurance, he said. And that, he said, results in situations where those driving without licenses and insurance flee the scene after accidents.

But Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, said some insurance companies do not require an Arizona driver's license to provide coverage.

And Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park, scoffed at the idea that those who entered the United States illegally are particularly interested in obeying Arizona's traffic laws: "You cannot make someone legal who does illegal acts."\

Rios said foes of the measure are presuming that granting driver's licenses will harm the state. He said the requirement that applicants prove citizenship or legal residency did not exist until 1996.