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Immigrants to seek California driver licenses

FILE - In this April 23, 2014, file photo, California Highway Patrol officer Armando Garcia explains to immigrants the process of getting a drivers license during an information session at the Mexican Consulate, in San Diego. California is gearing up to start issuing driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally in a bid to make the roads safer that could also give more than a million people access to state-issued identification. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi,File)
FILE - In this April 23, 2014, file photo, California Highway Patrol officer Armando Garcia explains to immigrants the process of getting a drivers license during an information session at the Mexican Consulate, in San Diego. California is gearing up to start issuing driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally in a bid to make the roads safer that could also give more than a million people access to state-issued identification. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi,File) FILE - In this April 23, 2014, file photo, California Highway Patrol officer Armando Garcia explains to immigrants the process of getting a drivers license during an information session at the Mexican Consulate, in San Diego. California is gearing up to start issuing driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally in a bid to make the roads safer that could also give more than a million people access to state-issued identification. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi,File)

By Associated Press 3 min read

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – California on Friday will start taking driver’s license applications from the nation’s largest population of immigrants in the country illegally.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles expects 1.4 million people will seek a license in the first three years of a program aimed at boosting road safety and making immigrants’ lives easier.

California officials say they can’t predict how many people will line up immediately to apply, but the number of people making appointments for a license more than doubled when immigrants were allowed to sign up. Appointments are required to apply for a license except at four newly-created DMV offices.

California is one of 10 states that now provide licenses to immigrants in the country illegally. The licenses issued to immigrants without legal status will include a distinctive marking and are not considered a valid form of federal identification.

Immigrants in the country illegally have not been allowed to apply for a driver’s license in California since the state began requiring proof of legal presence during the 1990s.