JUNEAU -- A bill moving through the Legislature would not only require Alaska driver's license applicants to prove they are here legally, it would also place restrictions on licenses given to legal noncitizens such as foreign students.
The goal is to keep that benefit out of the reach of illegal immigrants while keeping closer tabs on those here legally, said bill sponsor Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla.
"This isn't about compassion or understanding, it's about the set principle: If you're legal in this country, you enjoy the benefit of being legal. If you're illegal, you don't get afforded the same privileges," Huggins said.
Huggins' bill would set into law a requirement of proof of a person's legal presence through two forms of documentation.
Plus, for a noncitizen living in the United States legally, such as a foreigner studying at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a driver's license would be valid just for the period of time the student is authorized to stay in the nation.
If the noncitizen's authorized stay is indefinite, that person would be required to renew the license every year.
"Let's take the student-status scenario -- I think it's reasonable for us as Alaskans and our nation to be able to identify where those people are," Huggins said.
Huggins' bill would bring the state closer to compliance with a federal law passed last year. The Real ID Act was motivated by the 2001 terrorist attacks and creates driver's license standards meant to make it harder to get a license fraudulently.
The deadline for states to comply with the new law is May 2008. After that, license holders from states that don't meet the requirements will have to use some other form of identification to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.
Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles head Duane Bannock said states can choose not to comply, but their licenses would become second-tier identity cards.
"I am not interested in leading Alaska down that road," Bannock said. "I think it's a good mandate."
Bannock said Alaska is closer than many other states to compliance since upgrading to an online Social Security verification system to keep people from using fake documents to obtain driver's licenses.
The lack of a verification system was one factor in a 2004 study that ranked Alaska's DMV near the bottom in checking applicants' identities.
Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have either laws or regulations that require a person to prove he is in the nation legally to get a driver's license, according to the National Immigration Law Center.
Alaska has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 illegal immigrants within its borders, much fewer than many other states.
But proponents say the driver's license measure would discourage future illegal immigrants from settling permanently.
"You have to remember that driver's licenses are a fundamental form of identity in our country that may, among other things, be shown to an employer to establish an identity for work purposes," said Jack Martin, special projects director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, D.C.
Tyler Moran, a policy analyst with the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, said states' push for stricter license laws since the 2001 attacks are largely misguided.
"They tried to scare state legislatures by equating 'immigrant' with 'terrorist,'?" Moran said.
But other states such as New Mexico view it as a safety issue, she said. Illegal immigrants who have licenses had to pass a driver's test and have car insurance to get those licenses, whereas unlicensed drivers did not.
Several states have estimated their costs to change their systems to comply with the Real ID Act could be as high as $33 per license, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures report.
Huggins' bill estimates a cost to the state of $20,000. That would be the amount spent on changes to the database, Bannock said.
Bannock acknowledged that $20,000 did not reflect the full cost of meeting the standards of the Real ID Act, but not all the details of the new federal act are known and he is unable to estimate the total costs.
Huggins' bill last week passed the Senate Finance Committee, its third committee this year, and is bound for the Senate floor after the Rules Committee chairman sends it on. A companion bill by Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, has not yet gotten a hearing.
The bills are Senate Bill 189 and House Bill 290.
