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McMINNVILLE (
June 24, 2008
Farmworkers bracing for new ID rules
By BEN TERTIN
The Oregon DMV is poised to unleash sweeping new restrictions for all
drivers and ID holders in the state. The restrictions, established by
Senate Bill 1080, are scheduled to take effect July 1.
The immigrant community is bracing for the biggest impact. But the
changes will affect everyone to some degree.
Regardless of your birthplace or citizenship status, applying for a
driver's license or identification card will mean supplying
documentation to prove you're in the country legally.
You will need to document your full name and Social Security number.
Only birth certificates, marriage certificates, Social Security cards or
other government-issued documents will be accepted, and Social Security
numbers will be subjected to a verification process.
"This hurts everybody, not just Latinos," said Andrea Cano, executive
director of the Oregon Farm Worker Ministry, who opposes the move.
But he said farmworkers figure to be most affected, and that will have a
spinoff effect on the nursery, wine and other industries dependent on
farm labor. "Because Oregon is one of the top six states in the nation
employing agricultural labor, this is going to have a devastating effect
on agribusiness," he predicted.
"Remember that these folks are skilled," Cano said. "When a farmworker
tells me, 'I learned in McMinnville how to prune the vines for wine
grapes, and later started pruning table grape vines,' I know that his
skill level is phenomenal."
He argues it threatens basic civil rights as well as economic
well-being, particularly in agriculture-heavy areas like Yamhill County.
What's more, he doesn't see it working.
Senate Bill 1080 will not decrease illegal immigration, Cano said. "It
will increase illegal driving."
"These immigrants are human beings, and they're not going to leave. They
have homes. They have cars and families and kids in school."
The controversy first erupted in February, when the DMV began enforcing
Gov. Ted Kulongoski's Executive Order 07-22. While the state had
previously required collection of Social Security numbers from driver's
license and ID card applicants, the governor's order required an added
electronic verification element.
Thousands of undocumented workers, including many laboring in the
Yamhill Valley, felt the squeeze. They lost the ability to obtain or
renew driver's licenses and ID cards without facing the threat of
deportation.
Then along came Senate Bill 1080, enacting into law a more expansive and
far-reaching version of Kulongoski's order. It requires submission of a
full legal name with documented proof of legal U.S. residency, permanent
or temporary.
Opponents mounted a major battle at the time. The hue and cry has since
abated, but promises to flare anew when the state begins enforcing the
measure July 1, less than 10 days away.
Rick Wells, vice president and general manager at Monrovia Nursery, sees
mounting political and social polarization on the issue. He said it's
too early to accurately gauge the economic impact, but it certainly
raises concern in the labor-dependent nursery industry.
"I've heard there are people, because of this, who are leaving Oregon
and going to Washington because it doesn't have this requirement," Wells
said. "If they're going to lose their driver's license, they don't want
to be driving around illegally. And for them, it's just easier to leave
the state."
He said, "I'm afraid that if this happens too much, it's going to leave
a lot of holes in the workforce."
Immigrant rights activist Aeryca Steinbauer said, "We've already heard
of kids who had planned to go to college, but because their parents
don't have a driver's license anymore, the kids are staying home to
drive their parents around. A lot of people are just going to keep
working and driving anyway, and the pool is growing every day, as these
licenses start to expire."
"This is a major sea change from how we've been doing business in
Oregon," agreed Mark Wilk, managing attorney of the Oregon Law Center in
Woodburn, which serves primarily immigrant and low-income communities.
"This is going to hurt a lot of immigrant families."
Emphasizing the increased financial burden on workers, Wilk said, "We
work a lot with unscrupulous labor contractors, and we're anticipating
an increase in outrageous charges for rides, with reductions from
people's wages for transportation fees."
As if that weren't bad enough, he said, more unlicensed drivers on the
road mean higher insurance rates for everybody - especially when it
comes to uninsured motorist premiums.
"I think it's unfortunate that we've had to go down this road," Wilk
said. "Really, driver's licenses ought to be about ensuring that we have
safe drivers on the highway. Now, we're using licenses for a variety of
other things."
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