Changes to driver’s license eligibility for immigrants, gas tax hike on tap July 1

Beginning Monday, motorists who are not U.S. citizens will be able to acquire a standard Illinois driver’s license as the result of a law meant to alleviate a stigma for immigrants in their interactions with law enforcement and expand their abilities to seek consumer services.

In addition, an annual state gas tax hike tied to inflation kicks in, bringing the levy to 47 cents a gallon while the diesel fuel tax climbs to about 55 cents a gallon. The roughly 3% increases over last year are part of a 2019 measure that doubled the gas tax to help pay for Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $45 billion Rebuild Illinois construction program.

The state’s decision to grant standard driver’s licenses to noncitizens comes as Illinois takes an increasingly progressive stance toward immigration, an issue that has divided the nation and become a major flashpoint as migrants crossing the southern border have been shipped to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Pritzker signed the driver’s license measure into law shortly after it passed through the Democrat-led General Assembly during the 2023 spring legislative session. It puts Illinois in line with states like California, New York, New Jersey and Oregon that have similar laws.

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said the law promotes “equality and fairness” for motorists but also believes it’s “an unequivocal no-brainer” for other reasons.

“It’s critically important and it comes down to safer roads, safer roads, safer roads,” Giannoulias said in an interview. “Let’s make sure that they have a driver’s license, they pass a road (test), an eye exam and learn the Rules of the Road.”

Giannoulias’ office points to a Stanford University study from 2017 that showed no negative effects on road safety in changing the status of licenses for noncitizens. The study showed that when California’s version of the law took effect about a decade ago, there was no change in the rate of total accidents, including fatal crashes, and hit-and-run accidents decreased by as much as 10% in 2015 compared with 2014.

Immigrant advocates have been trying to get Illinois to allow noncitizens to acquire some form of driver’s licenses since at least 2007, when then-state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, a Chicago Democrat, sponsored a bill to give special driving certificates to immigrants without citizenship. The proposal narrowly passed in the House in a 60-56 vote but ultimately failed to get through the Senate.

In 2013, the General Assembly passed a measure that was later signed into law by then-Gov. Pat Quinn to grant Temporary Visitor Driver’s Licenses to noncitizens living in Illinois. According to the secretary of state’s office, Illinois was one of the first states to begin issuing TVDLs.

Since then, the office said, more than 300,000 TVDLs have been issued. But unlike the regular driver’s licenses, TVDLs can’t be used for routine tasks such as signing an apartment lease or picking up medication from a pharmacy, the secretary of state’s office has said.

At an event at Chicago’s National Museum of Mexican Art celebrating the passage of the new driver’s license law in 2023, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat, said the measure would have “a real world, real life impact” for noncitizens who aren’t able to use their ID to get a prescription at a pharmacy or have access to other essential services.

Giannoulias at the same event said that TVDLs “have become the scarlet letter of someone’s immigration status and sadly exposes them to discrimination.”

“We wanted to make sure that this time around we could eliminate that discrimination,” state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, a Democrat from Aurora who was the main sponsor of the new measure in the House, said in a recent interview. “It’s something that I know a lot of families are looking forward to. They’re very excited for this because they’re tired of being targeted in many establishments.”

Under the new law, applicants must follow the same process required for a TVDL. People eligible for a regular driver’s license must have lived in Illinois for more than a year and be able to show a passport or a consular card, proof of residency and proof of insurance, the secretary of state’s office said.

The law would also prohibit the use of driver’s license data for immigration enforcement purposes, and immigration agents must provide a court-issued warrant, order or subpoena to request the personally identifying information.

Giannoulias’ office said it has also implemented additional safeguards to ensure that noncitizen immigrant drivers cannot obtain a REAL ID or be added to Illinois’ voting rolls.