NEPTUNE, NJ.
- Every morning Hannia Solís leaves her house early to take her son to school and then goes to work.
While driving, keep one eye on the road and the other on the rear view mirror.
His great fear is to find behind him the flashing lights of a police car.
She is undocumented and does not have a driver's license.
"It's awful.
You always leave the house asking God to make your day go well.
There is always fear.
Just knowing that a police officer is coming after, that is very scary, ”says Solís, an immigrant from Costa Rica who came to the United States 20 years ago, when she was 18, and has not been able to regularize her immigration status.
[DHS formally prohibits the separation of families at the border]
Solís works at a used car dealership in southern New Jersey and works as a waitress at private events on weekends, mostly until late at night.
She returns home in fear, knowing that at any moment the police could intercept her.
"I wonder if it is worth taking that risk, ending up in court and paying fines that could be higher than I earned at work," he tells Noticias Telemundo.
Fear of the police and paying fines are just two of the problems she faces from not having a driver's license
.
"When I separated, it was very difficult for me to find a place to live, I was looking for an apartment and in many places they denied me the possibility because they required a license to park the car outside," he says.
She believes that if she could drive freely, she would have more opportunities to grow in her job.
“I could collaborate, go out to do license plate procedures, take cars for inspection.
But they can't count on me, I feel stuck and it's frustrating, ”she says.
Hannia Solís is Costa Rican and came to the US 20 years ago.
He has lived without papers in New Jersey, but is now on the verge of obtaining a driver's license that he says will allow him to integrate more into American society.Ronny Rojas / Noticias Telemundo
But your frustration is about to end.
Since May 1,
New Jersey began accepting applications for driver's licenses from undocumented people,
following the passage of a law that opened up that possibility.
Solís started the application process immediately and is now waiting to take his first written driving test.
His eyes shine when he talks about the possibility of going outside without fear.
"It has been a
great blessing
, there are many feelings for so many years that I have been here waiting for a license ... I even cry when I think about it," he says.
Deep impact
Having a driver's license has a
major impact on the life of an undocumented immigrant
: it offers peace of mind to commute to work, take children to school and walk without worrying about breaking the law.
In some states, unlicensed drivers can end up in jail if a judge determines that they are habitual offenders.
The license also allows them to register and insure their vehicle without relying on others to lend their name.
In New Mexico, for example, after a similar law was passed, the percentage of uninsured drivers went from 33% in 2002 to 9.1% in 2011.
[Number of immigrants attacked in New Jersey increases]
And states see benefits too.
In California, a study showed that
the streets are safer
after undocumented immigrants were allowed to drive.
Since the law came into force, the cases of drivers fleeing the scene of an accident decreased between 7 and 10%.
The study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University, found that the new law did not increase the number of accidents or the incidence of fatal mishaps, as their opponents alleged.
New Jersey undocumented immigrant driver's license process begins
April 30, 202103: 03
A report from the New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) think tank estimates that issuing driver's licenses to the undocumented will generate millions of dollars for the New Jersey economy and lower auto insurance premiums, as more residents will be insured.
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission estimates that between 400,000 and 450,000 people are eligible to apply for a driver's license under this new law.
And the NJPP estimates that some 222,000 residents will obtain a driver's license in the first three years, since the change took effect on May 1.
Not everyone gets a license
A good number of immigrants who can get a license may not do so.
At least that is what the data from other states that Noticias Telemundo analyzed indicate.
In the United States, 16 states and the District of Columbia grant driver's licenses to irregular immigrants.
An estimated five million undocumented people eligible to be licensed live in these states.
In California, just over a million undocumented people had obtained their driver's license as of 2018, three years after the state gave them the opportunity.
That number represents half of the undocumented population eligible for a license in that state.
[What should I do if the residency extension expires?]
In Delaware, to date 8,163 undocumented people have applied for a driver's license since the state began issuing the documents in late 2015, according to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
As of 2018, Delaware had 22,510 undocumented immigrants age 18 and older eligible for the license.
That is, about 3 out of 10 eligible undocumented immigrants obtained a driver's card.
The most recent estimates indicate that California is the state with the largest undocumented population: 2.3 million people.
Of them, 90% are eligible to obtain a driver's license.
Telemundo News
In Colorado, as of April 2019, 62,636 driver's licenses and 11,292 instruction permits had been issued to undocumented persons.
As of 2018, 143,479 undocumented persons of the age to have a driver's license lived in the state.
That is, only 44% of the eligible population had requested a license.
Fear of deportation
Fear of deportation could be a cause that many migrants decide not to approach to apply for the license.
And it is that despite the promises of state authorities not to share personal information with the immigration service (ICE), this has happened in some states, according to a 2016 investigation by the National Center for Immigration Law.
The organization found that ICE has access to a national database of driver's licenses and has also obtained detailed information on drivers in the past through informal relationships with employees of licensing offices in various states.
[ICE tracks thousands of driver's licenses to catch illegal immigrants]
Vermont is one of them.
According to a 2018 federal lawsuit by activist group Justice Migrante, employees of the department of motor vehicles shared with ICE names, photos, vehicle registrations and other information of undocumented immigrants who requested driver's licenses.
Several dairy farm workers were arrested and faced deportation proceedings because of this, according to the lawsuit.
In January 2020, Vermont settled with the plaintiffs.
The state promised not to share information with immigration authorities and to train its staff to prevent discrimination against immigrants.
ICE also settled to pay $ 100,000 in damages to the affected people.
Kamala Harris achieves the commitment of companies to invest in the Northern Triangle of Central America
May 28, 202101: 09
The Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, Wanda Minoli, told Noticias Telemundo that the agency stopped requesting or withholding information about the immigration status of drivers.
This measure, said Minoli, prevents the information from being shared with federal authorities, "since it is not collected in the first instance."
The Vermont licensing agency does not know how many undocumented immigrants have a driver's license in the state, since any resident, with or without papers, can obtain it without proving that they live in the country legally.
[More and more pregnant women about to give birth cross the border in the hope that they will not be deported]
Most of the states consulted by Noticias Telemundo do not have clear data on how many people without papers have driving licenses.
Some do not register the immigration status of their clients and in others, such as Vermont, the requirements to obtain a license are the same for citizens and undocumented, making it difficult to separate one from the other.
However, in some cases the existing data give us clues.
In Nevada, for example, those who cannot meet the identity requirements for licensing, including immigrants and citizens, can receive a special driver's card.
As of April 30 of this year, that state had 66,000 active permits.
An estimated 148,000 undocumented immigrants over the age of 18 live in Nevada.
That is, only 4 out of 10 eligible immigrants have a driver's card, a figure that could be lower, if one takes into account that some of these permits could be in the hands of citizens and residents.
New Jersey residents lined up to enter the Paterson City Licensing Center on May 27.
Starting May 1, immigrants without papers in the state can apply for a driver's license.Ronny Rojas / Noticias Telemundo
In New Jersey, the new law has clauses that seek to protect undocumented people:
the motor vehicle commission cannot share information with other federal or state agencies for immigration purposes
, without the consent of the users or a court order. You also cannot withhold copies of documents that people submit to determine eligibility for a license.
Some local organizations are working to convince undecided immigrants about the safety of the process, but they claim that the state has not been diligent to convey the message of reassurance.
“We do not know why there is this resistance to step up and be more public to educate the community.
The only thing we can say is that they probably don't want to get involved in the immigration issue, ”Elizabeth Chabla, service coordinator for Make the Road NJ, an immigrant advocacy group based in Elizabeth, New Jersey, told Noticias Telemundo.
[Biden formally ends the 'Stay in Mexico' policy but many doubts remain]
According to Chabla, in the first days that the service for the undocumented was enabled, his organization received numerous reports of rejected papers or officials who requested other documents without being necessary.
"In many places, officials had not received adequate training to deal with these types of problems," said Chabla.
The New Jersey licensing agency did not disclose the number of undocumented people who have applied for a driver's license since May 1, but said they have seen a "significant increase in demand" for new appointments and expect it to remain high. for several months.
Motor Vehicle Commission spokesman William Conolly said the implementation of the service has been "a great success" and they are working to make the licensing process "easier to understand."
He also said that agency officials have participated in informational events in Spanish to clarify doubts from the community.
Heiner Atencio is from Costa Rica and has lived in the US for 20 years.
He works as an electrician and managed to get his New Jersey driver's license in mid-May, after the state approved permits for undocumented immigrants.Ronny Rojas / Noticias Telemundo
However,
confusion and mistrust
seem to persist
among some people.
Heiner Atencio, an undocumented Costa Rican immigrant who has already obtained a New Jersey license, explained that he has had to help "a lot of people" to make the appointment and has seen other people who refuse to do so because they do not trust state officials.
In addition, he said, he has seen some social media posts from people who are charging for "legal advice" to get the license.
"It bothers me, it
is incredible how they take advantage of people when there is confusion.
It is not complicated to gather the papers and the procedures are free. That is why I help whoever asks me, so that they are not deceived," he said.
[Maritime surveillance increases on the southern coast of California due to the growing arrival of migrants by water]
Atencio, a 40-year-old electrician who lives in Belmar, appreciated the opportunity to be able to drive with a license and said that in the past he has lost jobs due to not having the permit.
"You can walk calmer, that's the big change," he said.
Hannia Solís has also heard from people in her community who are afraid to ask for a license.
"There are people who do not believe, they think that this is a strategy to deport them in the future. But for me it is a blessing," he said. The license brings her closer to one of her great goals. "My dream is to study here. I came from Costa Rica very young and I could never do it. I want to pursue a career ".
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/KMEYMJKESBAZBE4MRBAM4TGHIQ.jpg)
