Immigrants and their advocates have voiced opposition to proposed changes to how state drivers licenses are issued.
The proposal would formalize a practice that requires all non-US citizens to travel to Concord to obtain a license or photo id.
The Division of Motor Vehicles held a public hearing yesterday on the changes.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports.
:03 Good morning, my name is Sherri Kelloway I am an attorney with the Division of Motor Vehicles at the Dept. of Safety. This is the public hearing for SEFC 1000 driver licensing rules. (fade this down)
About 18 people sat around the table with the DMV's Sherri Kelloway.
Some were immigrants born in African and Latin American countries.
Others were US-born so-called advocates.
All were concerned the DMV's drivers license proposal would only cement a practice that many immigrants declare burdensome and unfair.
The DMV, a division within the Department of Safety, is proposing that all non-US citizens come to Concord to get their licenses.
Judy Elliott, representing the New Hampshire Immigrants Rights Taskforce, told state officials getting to Concord from Manchester isn't as easy as it seems.
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1:42...In Manchester, if you don't live right by the bus station, it is often necessary to take one or two buses to the Trailways station, and those buses run once every hour. Then it is necessary to buy a ticket on the Trailways bus, and you have to submit a drivers license, or a picture ID which has to be obtained by the DMV, so there is a circular problem there. Once the applicant arrives in Concord, of course they have to get a bus or taxi to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Many immigrants have complained they must also return to Concord to renew their licenses.
Non-US citizens licenses typically are issued for a matter of months.
And frequently coming to the capitol, advocates argue, only increases the hardship placed on immigrants.
Lilly Ramos Spooner is the director of the Greater Manchester Aids Project.
She says the proposed rules also fail to spell out what documentation is needed, frequently resulting in multiple trips to the DMV.
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:26 it poses a hardship for the citizens of NH. Having to come to Concord, inconsistent messages of what you have to bring in. what documentation you need. Having to provide proof of employment, when is employment a consideration to get your drivers license... I think they should have trained staff, throughout the staff, particularly in Manchester and Nashua.
Many have speculated the move to centralize services was a product of the September 11th attacks.
Director of Motor Vehicles Virginia Beecher says contrary to those rumors the decision had nothing to do with national security.
The reason she says is more basic; money.
Beecher says she sympathizes with non-US citizens, but believes her division is doing its best.
15:39 I feel we are accommodating them. I want them to live a productive life, as my grandparents did. I offer no excuses. We do not have money to hire additional people, therefore we are doing the best we can with the resources we have.
Beecher says the Concord DMV may extend business hours, with the intent to accommodate working people's schedules.
The DMV will formally accept comments to their proposed changes until April 22nd.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
