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Colorado Can't Meet Demand for Driver's Licenses for Immigrants

There have been problems with implementation of the Colorado law making those in the country illegally eligible for driver's licenses.

For Cristina Chavez it has become a middle-of-the-night ritual. For the last two months, after a long shift of cleaning offices, the 33-year-old who is in this country illegally logs onto her computer about 1 a.m., trying for her first driver's license in America.

But each time the result is the same: no appointment available.

On Aug. 1, Colorado became the 11th state to allow immigrants like Chavez to get driver's licenses. The 2013 state law, heralded as historic for its bipartisan support, was billed as a way to make roadways safer because those living here illegally would have to pass driving tests and carry insurance.

Since then, however, the program has been mired in a pile of woes, including a frustrating and often impenetrable scheduling system that allows only 155 appointments per day statewide despite estimates that more than 150,000 people are eligible.

 

Daniel Luzer is GOVERNING's news editor.
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