AUSTIN — Edwin Palacio arrived in the United States from the Philippines in 1993 and was granted political asylum two years later.
Since then he has worked for computer companies and received security clearances to audit private and government information systems. But the 54-year-old Austin resident is now identified as a “temporary visitor” on his new Texas driver's license, which he worries will hamper him and his wife from getting a home mortgage.
Palacio joined a group of lawmakers and civil rights advocates Tuesday in calling on the governing board of the Texas Department of Public Safety to rescind the new policy requiring noncitizens to renew their licenses annually and provide documentation that they are in the country legally.
Critics said the policy is having unintended consequences on people who are legal immigrants like Palacio and on some longtime citizens who lack birth certificates or passports.
Palacio and his wife canceled a vacation to South Padre Island recently out of fear that his license, which is printed on a vertical format, unlike the horizontal licenses issued to most Texas drivers, could prompt delays and even detention at federal immigration checkpoints.
“The rules have created insecurity, confusion instead of clarity, fear instead of faith in the government, foes instead of friends, life-threatening risks instead of public safety, and suspicion instead of trust,” Palacio said at a news conference in the Texas Capitol.
Gov. Rick Perry said in a written statement that the rules are needed for public safety and national security.
“Requiring driver license applicants to prove they are in the country legally before issuing them a license is a prudence course of action that most states already follow,” Perry said, adding that most Mexican states and Canadian provinces require foreign nationals to prove their legal immigration status to obtain a driver's license.
He said a federal investigation last year discovered a Dallas man who obtained six-year Texas drivers' licenses for nearly 400 foreign nationals whose visas had expired — preventing them from getting licenses in New York and New Jersey, where they lived at the time.
Several opposed to the change noted that drivers' licenses are used for more than driving, such as serving as identification when someone writes a check at a grocery store or applies for a bank loan.
“Creating a new type of driver's license based on a person's immigration status invites discrimination,” said state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth.
The Public Safety Commission overstepped its authority, said state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio. She called on the commission to halt implementation of the new rules and allow the Legislature to address the issue next year.
Clerks at driver's license offices are not trained in the complexities of federal immigration and naturalization laws, said Paul Parsons, an immigration lawyer. For example, spouses of U.S. citizens who have applied for their “green cards” but don't yet have the document in hand likely would not be able to get licenses.
Rebecca Bernhardt, director of policy development for the American Civil Liberties Union, said one longtime Texas resident ran into difficulty after her driver's license and green card were stolen with her purse. She was scheduled to take her citizenship test in a few weeks and didn't want to spend $400 to get a new green card.
“A crime victim was put through new hoops because of this rule,” Bernhardt said. “Did it serve public safety?”
