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By Lou Cannon, State Net Capitol Journal | Published on 02.16.2015 12:00 p.m.

With national immigration reform stymied by partisan division, several states have extended privileges associated with U.S. citizenship to millions of unauthorized immigrants. At the same time, states are leading the legal charge against President Barack Obamas executive orders protecting up to 5 million immigrants from deportation.

California is in the forefront of states accommodating unauthorized immigrants. Hundreds of thousands of them flocked to 150 Department of Motor Vehicleoffices and four special processing centers last month as the Golden State rolled out a law allowing anyone 18 and over to obtain a drivers license after passing road-knowledge and driving tests.

Two of three individualswho took the written test in a language other than English failed to pass on the first try. Even so, the DMV licensed 40,000 new drivers in January and is on track to reach a three-year goal of 1.4 million new licenses.

The new law has been largely welcomed by law-enforcement officers as a safety issue. Julie Powell, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol, said that requiring unauthorized immigrants already on the road to pass a driving test and obtain insurance will bolster public safety.

Californias liberalized policy on drivers licenses is the latest in a series of laws that have eased the lives of unauthorized immigrants, called undocumented by their advocates and illegal by their detractors. California is home to nearly a fourth of all such immigrants in the United States 2.8 million out of 11.6 million, according to Pew Research figures.

In 2014, California enacted 26 laws on immigration, many removing long-existing barriers. Unauthorized immigrants in California can now receive subsidized health care, student loans and financial aid, and licenses to practice law and medicine. Child welfare courts no longer make immigration status a determinant of guardianship.

These laws reflect the liberal political leanings of a state where Democrats hold every statewide office and control the Legislature.More fundamentally, they reflect a sea change in public perceptions of Latin American and Asian immigrants, not long ago regarded as a drain on the state.

In 1994, California voters approved a ballot initiative intended to deny educational and medical benefits to unauthorized immigrants. Courts found most of this initiative unconstitutional but vestiges remained on the books until 2014, when they were repealed at the behest of Latino legislators.

A recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that Californians are more likely to say that immigrants are a benefit to California because of their hard work and job skills (63 percent) than to say that immigrants are a burden to the state because they use public services (32 percent).

Originally posted here:
Lou Cannon: In Paradox, States Play Conflicted Role in National Immigration Debate