Date Posted: Thursday, January 31, 2008

By Vittorio Hernandez

Washington, DC (AHN) Jan. 30, 2008 - The road for illegal immigrants in the U.S. is getting shorter, literally. More states are refusing to issue drivers' licenses to undocumented aliens, while 4 of 5 states that still allows illegal migrants to drive are thinking of changing course.

Oregon will no longer issue driver's license to illegal migrants starting Monday, following Michigan which halted the issuance last week. Maryland will get tough with undocumented foreigners by 2010.

The issue goes beyond an international fight against terrorism and fraud, but has political undertones. When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed last year to allow illegal immigrants to secure driver's licenses, the proposal was met by a wide protest.

Aside from depriving illegal migrants of documentation, one possible consequence of this snowballing move is a rise in number of accidents involving unlicensed and uninsured drivers, pointed out Martha Gonzales-Cortez of Michigan's Office of Migrant Affairs.

The anti-illegal immigrant debate has grown beyond documentation. In San Diego, California, the adoption by an anti-illegal immigrant group of a portion of a road near the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint caused controversy. Caltrans had granted previously the San Diego Minuteman, the anti-illegal immigration group, the stretch from Interstate 5 under the Adopt-A-Highway program.

Members of the Latino Legislative causes protested that the Minutemen's sign alone could draw protesters, which may cause traffic or accident. Caltran workers promptly removed the San Diego Minutemen sign and moved it to the less busy highway along California 52 in eastern San Diego county.

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