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Colorado Driver's License Program for Illegal Immigrants Faces Massive Backlog

Colorado.gov

There’s an estimated backlog of 11,000 applications for Colorado’s driver’s license program for people living in the U.S. illegally and efforts to fix and better fund the program have been caught in partisan gridlock.

As The Denver Post reports, the program was started about three years ago as a means of making Colorado’s roads safer by ensuring that drivers living in the U.S. illegally have insurance and know the rules of the road.  

Since then, license seekers have complained about what they call a near-impossible process of getting an appointment to apply, as well as conflicting documentation requirements that have cut some applicants out of the process altogether.

Those issues have made some immigrants - already anxious about their status during the Trump administration - concern about their ability to legally drive, which could lead to deportation if they are pulled over while driving without a driver’s license.

Republicans say the program is contradictory to federal immigration law and may even give incentive to people living in the U.S. illegally to come to Colorado.