Latino immigrants suddenly avoiding the DMV
Drop in numbers seeking drivers licenses pegged to new state law
By Steve Law
The Portland Tribune, Aug 6, 2008
Christopher Onstott, Tribune File Photo / Portland Tribune
With a passport and Brazilian drivers license in hand, Roberual Goncalues De Silva waits his turn in 2006 to apply for an Oregon drivers license at the popular DMV office at SE Powell Boulevard and 90th. A new state law requires Oregon drivers license applicants to prove they are in the state legally.
The number of Spanish-speaking people taking Oregon’s driving test plummeted in February, just as Gov. Kulongoski’s executive order took effect requiring test-takers to provide valid Social Security numbers.
In the Portland area and statewide, there was a jump in people taking the driving test in Spanish in the two months after Kulongoski issued his November order – but before it took effect Feb. 4, according to new data from the state Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division. The number of people taking the test in Spanish fell more than 80 percent after his order took effect.
State officials can’t think of any other reason to explain the pattern besides the governor’s order, said David House, DMV spokesman.
Critics of illegal immigration hailed the new data.
“I think that’s reflective of the fact that at one time Oregon had an open door for illegal aliens to get their drivers’ licenses from all over the United States,” said Jim Ludwick, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform.
Oregon had been one of a handful of states that didn’t require drivers license applicants to prove they were here legally. Oregon also grants licenses for eight years, longer than many states.
Ludwick and others lobbied state officials for years to tighten state procedures, arguing that Oregon’s loose standards made the state a mecca for illegal immigrants anxious to obtain photo IDs.
Kulongoski came around to that view last year, arguing state requirements needed tightening to prevent identity theft and other public safety problems.
“Previously Oregon had been a magnet for individuals from other states coming in and obtaining drivers’ licenses,” said Jillian Schoene, Kulongoski spokeswoman. “I think the changes in the law have been effective.”
Kulongoski put the heat on the Oregon Legislature to approve his plan, by making the executive order take effect the exact day a one-month special legislative session began on Feb 4. Lawmakers complied by passing Senate Bill 1080, which requires license applicants to provide proof they are here legally.
That law took effect July 1, so its full impact is not clear yet, House said. So far, the law is slowing the issuance of drivers licenses, because it requires all applicants to present more documents to prove their identity and legal presence here.
“I’m going to give Gov. Kulongoski credit,” Ludwick said. “He’s the one who issued an executive order and basically forced the Legislature to go along with the process.”
For most of 2007, about 150 people a month took the test in Spanish at the bustling Portland DMV office on 8710 S.E. Powell Boulevard. That bumped to more than 200 a month in December and January, after Kulongoski announced his pending executive order. Then the number fell to 28 people in February, when the order took effect.
The story was the same elsewhere in the Portland area and statewide. At the main Hillsboro DMV office, 398 people took the test in Spanish in January, and then only 69 in February. In Gresham, 215 took the test in Spanish in January, and only 20 in February. Statewide, 4,542 took the test in Spanish in January and 665 in February.
The DMV’s data does not show a clear drop in the number of people taking the drivers test in English, Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese or Japanese. The number of people taking the test in Spanish has remained low each month since February.
“Only one language group declined; all the others remained pretty static,” Ludwick observed.
The DMV data provides dramatic evidence of the influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants to the Portland area. People requesting the drivers test in Spanish amounted to one-third of all test-takers at the Hillsboro DMV from August 2006 through January 2008, one-fourth of those in the Gresham DMV and about one-seventh of those at Portland’s Powell Boulevard DMV.
Ludwick predicted the new state law will reduce methamphetamine trafficking and identity theft in Oregon.
Immigrants rights advocates said the law will harm Oregon’s economy by making it more difficult for undocumented workers to get to their jobs. However, the law’s impact is gradual, because many illegal immigrants have licenses until they expire, and there was a surge of people getting licenses before the executive order took effect.
“That means that little by little, they’re not going to do their work,” said Marco Mejia, Portland-area director of the American Friends Service Committee immigration program. That will have a dramatic impact on Oregon farms, hotels, restaurants and other businesses that rely on immigrant labor, Mejia said.
Ultimately, he said, the law will drive up the cost of food for Oregonians. “The effect is going to be totally negative to the overall community,” he said.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121797745642029900
Drop in numbers seeking drivers licenses pegged to new state law
By Steve Law
The Portland Tribune, Aug 6, 2008
Christopher Onstott, Tribune File Photo / Portland Tribune
With a passport and Brazilian drivers license in hand, Roberual Goncalues De Silva waits his turn in 2006 to apply for an Oregon drivers license at the popular DMV office at SE Powell Boulevard and 90th. A new state law requires Oregon drivers license applicants to prove they are in the state legally.
The number of Spanish-speaking people taking Oregon’s driving test plummeted in February, just as Gov. Kulongoski’s executive order took effect requiring test-takers to provide valid Social Security numbers.
In the Portland area and statewide, there was a jump in people taking the driving test in Spanish in the two months after Kulongoski issued his November order – but before it took effect Feb. 4, according to new data from the state Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division. The number of people taking the test in Spanish fell more than 80 percent after his order took effect.
State officials can’t think of any other reason to explain the pattern besides the governor’s order, said David House, DMV spokesman.
Critics of illegal immigration hailed the new data.
“I think that’s reflective of the fact that at one time Oregon had an open door for illegal aliens to get their drivers’ licenses from all over the United States,” said Jim Ludwick, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform.
Oregon had been one of a handful of states that didn’t require drivers license applicants to prove they were here legally. Oregon also grants licenses for eight years, longer than many states.
Ludwick and others lobbied state officials for years to tighten state procedures, arguing that Oregon’s loose standards made the state a mecca for illegal immigrants anxious to obtain photo IDs.
Kulongoski came around to that view last year, arguing state requirements needed tightening to prevent identity theft and other public safety problems.
“Previously Oregon had been a magnet for individuals from other states coming in and obtaining drivers’ licenses,” said Jillian Schoene, Kulongoski spokeswoman. “I think the changes in the law have been effective.”
Kulongoski put the heat on the Oregon Legislature to approve his plan, by making the executive order take effect the exact day a one-month special legislative session began on Feb 4. Lawmakers complied by passing Senate Bill 1080, which requires license applicants to provide proof they are here legally.
That law took effect July 1, so its full impact is not clear yet, House said. So far, the law is slowing the issuance of drivers licenses, because it requires all applicants to present more documents to prove their identity and legal presence here.
“I’m going to give Gov. Kulongoski credit,” Ludwick said. “He’s the one who issued an executive order and basically forced the Legislature to go along with the process.”
For most of 2007, about 150 people a month took the test in Spanish at the bustling Portland DMV office on 8710 S.E. Powell Boulevard. That bumped to more than 200 a month in December and January, after Kulongoski announced his pending executive order. Then the number fell to 28 people in February, when the order took effect.
The story was the same elsewhere in the Portland area and statewide. At the main Hillsboro DMV office, 398 people took the test in Spanish in January, and then only 69 in February. In Gresham, 215 took the test in Spanish in January, and only 20 in February. Statewide, 4,542 took the test in Spanish in January and 665 in February.
The DMV’s data does not show a clear drop in the number of people taking the drivers test in English, Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese or Japanese. The number of people taking the test in Spanish has remained low each month since February.
“Only one language group declined; all the others remained pretty static,” Ludwick observed.
The DMV data provides dramatic evidence of the influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants to the Portland area. People requesting the drivers test in Spanish amounted to one-third of all test-takers at the Hillsboro DMV from August 2006 through January 2008, one-fourth of those in the Gresham DMV and about one-seventh of those at Portland’s Powell Boulevard DMV.
Ludwick predicted the new state law will reduce methamphetamine trafficking and identity theft in Oregon.
Immigrants rights advocates said the law will harm Oregon’s economy by making it more difficult for undocumented workers to get to their jobs. However, the law’s impact is gradual, because many illegal immigrants have licenses until they expire, and there was a surge of people getting licenses before the executive order took effect.
“That means that little by little, they’re not going to do their work,” said Marco Mejia, Portland-area director of the American Friends Service Committee immigration program. That will have a dramatic impact on Oregon farms, hotels, restaurants and other businesses that rely on immigrant labor, Mejia said.
Ultimately, he said, the law will drive up the cost of food for Oregonians. “The effect is going to be totally negative to the overall community,” he said.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121797745642029900