- PHOENIX (EFE) - The governor
of Arizona promised visiting Mexican lawmakers that she would sign legislation
that would allow undocumented immigrants in that state to obtain driver's
licenses.
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- Janet Napolitano met with five members of the Mexican
Chamber of Deputies' Foreign Relations Committee last weekend, just days
before she was scheduled to be sworn in as governor of Arizona.
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- In 1994, Arizona passed a law prohibiting those without
social security numbers from obtaining a driver's license.
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- Since then, undocumented immigrants have been forced
to drive without a license and without auto insurance, which requires applicants
to have a valid license.
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- The legislators also discussed trafficking in undocumented
immigrants along the Arizona-Sonora border.
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- The delegation expressed concern about actions taken
by civilian groups that patrol the border.
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- The deaths in 2002 of more than 100 undocumented Mexican
immigrants in the Arizona desert prompted the five lawmakers to travel
to Arizona to meet with government officials and human rights activists.
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- "We're very pleased with the governor's position,
and hope that our fellow countrymen can obtain driver's licenses in the
very near future," Congressman Efren Leyva Acevedo said.
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- Granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants
was a campaign promise Napolitano made to the state's Hispanic community.
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- http://www.quepasa.com/content/?c=104&id=91331
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