STATESMAN JOURNAL (Oregon)
By Peter Wong
October 30, 2012
Adriana Limon walked the 50 miles from Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square to the Capitol in Salem so that someday her family can move back to Portland.
Her family moved from Oregon, which since 2008 requires proof of legal presence for issuance of driver’s licenses, across the Columbia River to Washington, which does not.
“We had to leave behind a house we had for 14 years,” she said Tuesday as she and others prepared to present petitions with 5,000 signatures to Gov. John Kitzhaber. “It’s sad, because we left our community, our friends, our house — where we had a lot of memories — just to move to Washington to get a license.”
Oswaldo Monroy chose to stay in Portland, but was arrested June 1 for driving without a license. His arrest triggered a hold by federal immigration officials, although he has not been deported.
“I get up at 5:30 every single day, working at two jobs, and I feel I’m still not making it,” he said at a rally at the Capitol. “With a license I could get a better job and I could do my personal business. It’s stressful, but with a car, it could be avoided.”
A small group of walkers made the trek to Salem via stops in Oregon City, Canby and Woodburn. They arrived Monday night and walked Tuesday from the fairgrounds to the Capitol, where they were joined by others.
About 60 people at the rally want Kitzhaber to take steps to restore access by undocumented immigrants to licenses. Rules have become more restrictive since a 2007 executive order by then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski and a 2008 law by the Legislature.
Proof of legal presence in the United States — such as a birth certificate, passport or tribal ID — is a requirement for obtaining a driver’s license or nondriver identification card in Oregon and most states.
The changes were enacted to comply with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, which requires states to take specified steps to make driver’s licenses more secure if licenses are used as identification to board commercial aircraft or enter federal buildings.
The federal law does allow states to issue licenses without proof of legal presence if they are clearly marked as invalid for federal identification purposes. Washington and New Mexico issue such licenses, although Washington also issues an “enhanced” license that can be used for federal identification purposes and for travel to and from Canada.
A smaller group from the rally, including Jayme Limon, met with Frank Garcia, Kitzhaber’s adviser for diversity.
Limon said at the rally that Kitzhaber has listed education, health care and jobs as his top priorities.
“Unfortunately for undocumented immigrants, not having a driver’s license affects all three,” he said.
Among those watching was Anne Galisky of Portland, producer of “Papers,” a 2009 documentary about youths without immigration documents. Her next documentary is “14,” about how the U.S. Constitution was amended after the Civil War to grant automatic citizenship to those born in the United States. Some people want to repeal that section of the 14th Amendment.
“I know Gov. Kitzhaber will be welcoming and trying to do his best to work things out,” she said.
Kitzhaber has assigned a group of officials to look into alternatives, including a form of identification used in Mexico. But immigrant advocates call it a partial solution, and critics say it goes too far.
Hundreds came to the Capitol on April 18, 2011, in support — and opposition — to a bill allowing Oregon to issue licenses without proof of legal presence. But the Senate committee hearing took place after a deadline to advance legislation, and the bill died.
“We are doing the best we can,” Adriana Limon said. “We definitely want driver’s licenses back. We will see what happens.”
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