Last Friday, Jan. 2, in California, law Assembly Bill 60 took effect, thus granting undocumented immigrants the ability to acquire drivers’ licenses. This is a welcoming change.

At first glance, it’s understandable why some are worried about the implications such a bill might have. In their eyes, AB 60 appears to give a wink and a nod toward immigrants to simply cut in line and reside here without documentation. Now that they can legally drive, their undocumented status is less inconvenient. If only it were that simple.

In 2010, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that California contained 2,550,000 undocumented immigrants, a number that has surely grown since. Undocumented immigrants will drive regardless, especially in sprawling California, and their lack of identification and insurance is a major inconvenience for everyone. Combine that with the fact that most of the major cities in this state serve as sanctuary cities — places that do not use funds to carry out federal immigration laws — means that this situation must be approached pragmatically. The only other choice is the ridiculously unrealistic and perverse option of mass deportation — a nativist fantasy.

Allowing undocumented immigrants to acquire driver’s licenses will encourage them to gain access through legitimate means as opposed to the black market. With such identification, the undocumented can then obtain car insurance, alleviating the pressure to flee from the scene of an accident. This will help the insured not to have to bear the brunt of the costs.

A Department of Motor Vehicles study released in 2013 found that unlicensed drivers in California are almost three times as likely to get involved in a fatal crash. Now that undocumented immigrants can legally obtain a license to drive, they’ll be required to take the same writing and driving tests as everyone else, thus obtaining a basic level of competency that will make California streets safer. It is this argument that got former Los Angeles police chief William J. Bratton and current police chief Charlie Beck on board. Furthermore, undocumented immigrants won’t be forced to obtain a fake license, a sketchy process that would put them in the same category with international terrorists. The government needs to know that the people working to obtain false documents are dangerous men and women, not persecuted and scared immigrants.

It also just makes plain economic sense to allow undocumented immigrants the ability to legally drive their cars. Those that are discouraged from driving are subjected to California’s near-worthless public transportation for commuting purposes, and a bike won’t cut it considering how spread out all of the state’s major cities are. California doesn’t have a New York City or a London. This robs the working immigrant from possibly taking on another job that needs to be filled, increases the chances of them being late for a shift and, therefore, hurting productivity and denies car companies and insurers customers who would otherwise make their purchases in a free market if not disrupted by state law.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval in October 2013 does not mark the first time that Californians who illegally immigrated could get a driver’s license. This is merely a rollback to safer, saner times. Until 1994, Californians did not have to show proof of legal residence to get a license. Under the leadership of former Gov. Pete Wilson, this changed. About a decade later, former Gov. Gray Davis brought about a temporary reversal to this policy, however his recall contributed to its revival during the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

With AB 60 in effect, California is now one of 10 states — plus Washington, D.C. — that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license. While this decade is only at its halfway point, already five other states in this time period have chosen to
enact similar laws. This is a promising trend, but there is far more work to be done.