H33 and North Carolina Driver's License Requirements

The State House of Representatives recently passed H 33, “An Act to Provide that Certain Consulate or Embassy Documents May Not be Used to Determine a Person’s Identification or Residence for Governmental and Law Enforcement Purposes.” Among the provisions the bill would amend if enacted is G.S. 20-7(b4), which currently permits the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) to rely on consular documents as proof of North Carolina residency. Other types of documents that may be used to establish residency for driver’s license purposes include pay stubs, utility bills, bank statements, and rental contracts. While H 33, which was supported by the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, has stirred debate (see news reports here, here and here) on the issue of unauthorized immigration, it does not purport to regulate immigration—the exclusive province of the federal government. Moreover, the law does not affect the ability of unauthorized immigrants to obtain a North Carolina driver’s license. Unauthorized immigrants already are ineligible to obtain a North Carolina driver’s license, learner’s permit, or identification card. This has been the case since enactment of the 2006 Technical Corrections Act, which eliminated a provision that allowed NCDMV to issue driver’s licenses to people providing an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in lieu of a Social Security number. The requirement that a license applicant provide a valid social security number removed people without such numbers, and consequently all unauthorized immigrants, from the people eligible to obtain a North Carolina driver’s license. The only statutory exception to this requirement [...]