A decade ago, the state passed SB13-251, or the Colorado Road and Community Safety Act — a law that allowed undocumented immigrants and international students to obtain a driver's license, learner's permit or ID card.
On June 2, Governor Jared Polis and the Department of Motor Vehicles announced that Colorado is expanding SB13-251 licenses and will now refer to them as "standard licenses," with all 36 of the state's DMV offices offering free appointments to get one.
"It's a big step for the state of Colorado," the governor said at a press conference held at the History Colorado Center. "Our state is stronger when we make sure that everyone who calls Colorado home can get to and from work safely."
According to Polis, more than 200,000 immigrants have secured driver's licenses between 2013 and the present, making the roads safer and shrinking insurance premiums. SB13-251, he said, "cleared the way for credentials to be issued to 200,000 Coloradans, who, because of failures at the federal level, do not have documentation.
"We know there are a lot more people we can serve," he added.
U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, who signed the original bill as governor in 2013, issued a statement on Friday from Washington, D.C. — where he was busy casting his vote for the debt ceiling bill— that read, "Expanding where the program is offered will make our roads safer and cut red tape for folks working toward their American dream.”
Hickenlooper continued, "Ten years ago, we signed the Colorado Road and Community Safety Act into law to empower new Coloradans — like international students and immigrants — to drive their families to work, school, medical appointments and the supermarket."
Licensing for undocumented drivers, otherwise known as CO-RCSA services, was initially only possible at four offices: Lakewood, Lakewood Westgate, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction. At one point, the advocacy group known as the I Drive Coalition was able to persuade lawmakers to expand those services to eleven offices, including in places such as Cañon City, Delta, Steamboat Springs, Salida and Meeker.
"When we started out, it was only available in three or four offices, and there was like a three-month waitlist. It was very, very hard," Polis said. "This will be at every DMV office, and there's no more wait for it than there would be for any other services at the DMV. We're finally achieving parity."
Nancy Margarita Díaz Esápite says that expanding the number of offices offering licenses to undocumented drivers is a huge benefit to her community in Lamar.
Bennito L. Kelty
"It makes Colorado safer, helps our economy [and] reduces auto insurance premiums," he noted.
About 170,000 undocumented immigrants have purchased auto insurance since the 2013 law was passed, which saves Colorado motorists $127 million a year in insurance premiums, reports the Colorado Fiscal Institute.
Meanwhile, as more Colorado immigrants are expected to get driver's licenses and potentially get insured, revenue for insurance companies is expected to increase by $360 million annually, according to the institute.
Colorado driver Evelyn Rodriguez of Pueblo says that the standard license program helped her "drive safe on our highways, feel safe and help my family feel safe."
"I'm safely able to bring my kids to school, to the doctor, to go to the store, and it's also an ID for me now," Rodriguez explains in Spanish. "It's helped so many people just like me to go register their vehicle and get insurance."
Rodriguez was part of the I Drive Coalition advocacy group, which will continue to advise state lawmakers on ways to improve the non-citizen driver's license law. She's also part of Grupo Mayas Pueblo, which supports the immigrant community in Pueblo.
The I Drive Coalition also includes Nancy Margarita Díaz Escápite, founder of Lamar Unidas — a group that advocates for immigrants living in the city of Lamar, in the southeastern part of the state. She says that because Lamar is so far from the metro area, most residents rely on driving to get to work.
"There were so few offices...and the demand was huge," Díaz remembers, noting that Lamar has a population that's more than a third Hispanic.
She expects that the new change by the Department of Motor Vehicles will help the "influx of immigrants seeking asylum, as well."
"I'm safely able to bring my kids to school, to the doctor, to go to the store, and it's also an ID for me now," Rodriguez explains in Spanish. "It's helped so many people just like me to go register their vehicle and get insurance."
Rodriguez was part of the I Drive Coalition advocacy group, which will continue to advise state lawmakers on ways to improve the non-citizen driver's license law. She's also part of Grupo Mayas Pueblo, which supports the immigrant community in Pueblo.
The I Drive Coalition also includes Nancy Margarita Díaz Escápite, founder of Lamar Unidas — a group that advocates for immigrants living in the city of Lamar, in the southeastern part of the state. She says that because Lamar is so far from the metro area, most residents rely on driving to get to work.
"There were so few offices...and the demand was huge," Díaz remembers, noting that Lamar has a population that's more than a third Hispanic.
She expects that the new change by the Department of Motor Vehicles will help the "influx of immigrants seeking asylum, as well."
Former Colorado state senator Jessie Ulibarri led the passage of SB13-251 in 2013 and said on Friday that at the time, he wanted the state's undocumented immigrants "to live a normal Colorado life" and to be able "to do daily activities without fear of deportation."
"At that time, we had officers who were being deputized to enforce federal immigration laws to separate parents from their children, do raids," Ulibarri explained at the Polis press conference. "The thing that could prevent that was licenses. If you get pulled over for a broken taillight, for going two miles over the speed limit, you could still go home to your kids."
Ulibarri also explained that more licensed drivers made the roads safer because it made it more likely that "if there were accidents, [undocumented immigrants] would not leave" the scene.
Colorado undocumented residents can schedule an appointment online to get a driver's license, or they can call 303-205-2335.
