Although some states do require that foreign license applicants be legal residents,² many states do have such a requirement or do not thoroughly verify applicants' identities. Seven states don't even require a Social Security number (SSN) to get a state ID, or they will simply give applicants another number if they don't have an SSN.³ As a result, temporary foreign visitors and illegal aliens can easily obtain state IDs. These IDs are not being used solely to drive; since they are effectively our only universal identify document, they often are treated as proof of legal residence in the U.S.

As a result of such laxity in licensing, all of the 9/11 hijackers had driver's licenses or state non-driver's identification cards, which they were able to use when renting housing, opening bank accounts, and boarding planes. For example, Hijacker Hanni Hanjour and Khalid Al-Midhar obtained Virginia licenses by hiring an illegal alien to co-sign their residency forms and listing his address as theirs. The day after they got their licenses, they sponsored two other hijackers, Salem Al-Hamzi and Majed Moqed, to get licenses, too.⁴

Encouraging Illegal Immigration

In some states, existing or proposed laws specifically allow illegal aliens to get driver's licenses.⁵ While the laws themselves seldom state that as their intention, they eliminate obstacles that would otherwise bar illegal aliens from applying (such as verifying the validity of a Social Security number). Lawmakers usually acknowledge that the goal of such bills is to allow illegal aliens to obtain licenses.⁶ Illegal aliens have not been slow to take advantage of the opportunity. When Tennessee dropped its Social Security number requirement in May 2001, tens of thousands of illegal aliens immediately flocked there to get driver's licenses, swamping local DMV offices with lines stretching around the block.⁷ In some counties, applications increased thirty-fold.⁸

"Recommendation: Secure identification should begin in the United States. The federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as driver's licenses. Fraud in identification documents is no longer just a problem of theft. At many entry points to vulnerable facilities, including gates for boarding aircraft, sources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists." —9/11 Commission Report, p. 390, August 2004

The REAL ID Act

The recommendation of the 9/11 Commission led to the adoption of the REAL ID Act in early 2005. It is a measure designed to encourage the states to change their lax driver’s license standards over the next few years. The REAL ID Act provisions established national standards for the issuance of driver's licenses that will effectively bar people who are in the country illegally from obtaining them, barred people who have ties to terrorist organizations from taking advantage of our political asylum process, and provided for completion of the border security fence along the Mexican border.

Safety and Security

Proponents of issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens have argued that it would improve national security and road safety. The security argument is spurious, because illegal aliens often use aliases and phony documents, so the alien’s identity and residence is not established as a result of the driver’s license process. A process that does not verify the authenticity of the applicant’s documents can be used as easily by terrorists as by illegal aliens.

The argument about road safety relies on a faulty assumption that if illegal aliens are legally licensed to drive, they will all have accident insurance. But even if a state requires automobile insurance as a condition of getting a license, that does not keep an illegal alien from canceling the policy the next day. Illegal aliens generally are working in low-wage jobs and have difficulty affording insurance, and their cars are frequently older and more accident-prone. Additionally, illegal aliens often are not able to read road alerts in English. In many of the countries from which illegal aliens come, it is standard practice for motorists involved in accidents to flee the scene. The combination of these factors adds up to the probability that, if more illegal aliens were encouraged to drive by issuing them driver’s licenses, it would lead to more accidents caused by uninsured motorists and many would be hit and run.

For more information, see FAIR's guiding principles for driver's license reforms, our comprehensive document security proposal and The Facts on ID Security”.

1. "Driver's License Crucial for 'Security,'" Washington Times, December 2, 2003. "No Licenses for Illegal Immigrants," Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2002.
2. According to a Congressional Research Report of Sept. 13, 2005, “Summary of State Laws on the Issuance of Driver’s Licenses to Undocumented Aliens,” those states are: Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia.
3. Also according to the above CRS report, the following states all have requirements that an applicant must be a legal resident of the U.S. to get a license or ID: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia.
4. World Trade Center and Pentagon Terrorists' Identity and Immigration Status, FAIR Issue Brief, October 2001. "Two Charged In Scheme That Helped Terrorists," Washington Post, October 2, 2001.
5. In the following states, according to the CRS report, legal residence is not required to apply for a driver's license: Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. In addition, states that have verification loopholes are: the District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Tennessee.
6. "Driver's License Law Easing for Aliens," The Tennessean, April 24, 2001.
7. "Avalanche of Driver's License Applicants Sparks Debate on Legal, Illegal Workers," The Tennessean, June 17, 2001.
8. "A Uniform Driver's License," Chattanooga Times Free Press, February 26, 2002.