Gov. Mark R. Warner signed legislation Saturday banning undocumented immigrants from obtaining Virginia driver's licenses, but also proposed an amendment allowing for a small number of those same citizens to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.
Supporters of the legislation prohibiting undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses acknowledge that seven of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers fraudulently obtained Virginia licenses, said Timothy Murtaugh, spokesperson for Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.
"This is a very important security issue," Murtaugh said. "A driver's license is more or less a passport to all different kinds of behavior --- you can rent a car, open bank accounts or board airplanes."
Murtaugh said Kilgore is unsympathetic to those who might need a license in order to drive to a job, asserting that "what they need to do is obey the law" and become a legal citizen.
Warner will work to ensure that the new license restrictions are implemented fairly, and discussed the matter at length with members of the Latino community in Virginia, Warner spokesperson Ellen Qualls said.
"The Governor wants DMV employees trained so this doesn't become racial profiling," she said.
Temporary licenses could be issued to those with legal visas to be in the country, Qualls added.
Kilgore is disappointed with Warner's amendment to the tuition bill and will encourage the General Assembly to reject it, Murtaugh said.
Undocumented immigrants applying for in-state tuition privileges will have to meet three major qualifications: students will have to have graduated from a Virginia high school, prove that they are attempting to become legal citizens and have lived in the Commonwealth for at least five years.
Around 150 students could benefit from the amendment, according to census data, Qualls said.
Murtaugh said, however, that the grim economic situation in Virginia does not allow for special privileges for undocumented immigrants.
"The state is in a difficult budget situation and to ask taxpayers to foot the bill for people breaking the law is unconscionable," Murtaugh said. "Even military personnel are not eligible" for in-state tuition.
Qualls said engaging the status of military families in the debate would not be relevant.
"That is an apples to oranges comparison," she said. "They receive in-state tuition in whatever state they came from and they already have a much easier time of getting in-state tuition wherever they want it."
Most undocumented immigrants contribute a significant amount of revenue to the Virginia government, Asst. Dean of Students Pablo Davis said.
"Every time they or their families buy groceries or make any other purchase, they're paying sales tax at the very least, which is a major source of revenue," Davis said.
Both the driver's license and in-state tuition ban legislation were proposed by Kilgore, Murtaugh said.
The University currently has no undocumented immigrants in attendance, University Spokesperson Carol Wood said.
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