The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced Wednesday that more than 1 million undocumented immigrants have received driver’s licenses in the last three years.
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Since the implementation of Assembly Bill 60 (AB 60) back in 2015, approximately 1,001,000 undocumented immigrants have received driver’s licenses as of March 31, according to DMV officials.
Originally introduced in 2013, AB 60 requires California DMV offices to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants if they are able prove their identity and residence within the state, according to officials.
Undocumented immigrants who have received driver’s licenses in California are not allowed to drive outside the state, nor are they permitted to fly across federal or state borders, according to DMV officials.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) could not find any discernible impact on the total number of crashes or auto-related fatalities in the state.
“We find that, contrary to concerns voiced by opponents of the law, AB 60 has had no discernible short-term effect on the number of accidents,” reads the study report. “The law primarily allowed existing unlicensed drivers to legalize their driving. We also find that, although AB 60 had no effect on the rate of fatal accidents, it did decrease the rate of hit and run accidents, suggesting that the policy reduced fears of deportation and vehicle impoundment.”
Currently, 12 states in the U.S., as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
Conversely, undocumented immigrants were able to obtain a driver’s licenses anywhere in the U.S. until 1993, when California became the first state to restrict access to licenses. Shortly afterward, 45 other states in the union followed California’s example, according to officials.
To read the full PNAS study, click here.
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