Backlogged Immigrant Driver’s License Program Faces Further Cuts

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – By Tina Griego for The Colorado Independent. In November, a Colorado Springs woman positioned herself at her computer, pulled up the state Division of Motor Vehicles site and waited. The first appointments for driver’s licenses for people who cannot prove they are here legally — and she is among them — would open up at 8 a.m. More slots would be released during the day. The appointments are booked, often months out, and experience had taught her they would be snatched up in minutes.

“It’s like hunting,” she says. “You must be in front of your computer three or four minutes before 8 a.m., 12, 4 p.m. or 8 p.m, and type as fast as you can.”

If you’re lucky, says the woman, who asked not to be named given her legal status, you get the appointment. If not, a box pops up saying your chosen time has already been taken.

Unauthorized immigrants who are Colorado residents have been able to obtain state driver’s licenses since late 2014 and, as of November, more than 59,000 had. The program, created under the Colorado Road and Community Safety Act, was a response to complaints from farmers, ranchers, immigrants and others who argued the lack of legal driving documentation for immigrant workers was dangerous and a drag on the economy.

READ MORE in The Colorado Independent

Colorado residents unable to prove they are in the U.S. lawfully have been able to apply for special driver's licenses for almost five years. Appointments, already backfilled for months, may become harder to get this year. (Image of driver's license courtesy of Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles)