{"id":68164,"date":"2025-11-28T06:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T06:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/68164\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T06:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T06:35:13","slug":"texas-id-restrictions-could-prevent-immigrants-in-us-illegally-from-buying-registering-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/68164\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas ID restrictions could prevent immigrants in US illegally from buying, registering vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is implementing more stringent photo identification requirements for all vehicle registrations and renewals in an abrupt shift that could shut out immigrants from legally owning vehicles.<\/p>\n

Current photo identification, such as a state driver\u2019s license or passport, must be presented when new vehicle registrations or renewals are made, according to the new policy. The DMV said it informed county tax offices on Nov. 18 of the new requirement, which went into effect immediately. The San Antonio Express-News first reported<\/a> the policy change.<\/p>\n

Licensed vehicle dealers in the state also were notified by the DMV on Nov. 19 that a customer\u2019s approved photo identification must be presented during sales. A DMV spokesperson said the new guidance is \u201cintended to ensure the validity of identification documents required as part of the state\u2019s vehicle registration process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DMV\u2019s list of approved identification sent to dealers and counties includes: a Texas driver\u2019s license; an unexpired U.S. passport; Texas License To Carry identification; and IDs issued by the U.S. military, Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services and Department of State.<\/p>\n

The move could prevent many immigrants in the country illegally from registering vehicles \u2014 and Rep. Brian Harrison<\/a>, R-Midlothian, said he hopes that\u2019s what the new policy will do. Harrison had repeatedly<\/a>criticized<\/a> the DMV this month about its registration policy and called for the department to take action. He also sent a letter to both the DMV and Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> \u2019s office demanding action be taken in the days before the new policy was announced. <\/p>\n

An estimated 1.7 million<\/a> immigrants live in Texas without legal permission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was outraged when I learned from a source that it was happening, and of course, I dug in on my own (and) independently verified this was going on,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cAnd it should be noted, I was the only elected Republican in Texas calling for this, to the best of my knowledge. The only one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrison alleged immigrants in the state had driven up car insurance premiums and increased danger on the roads. <\/p>\n

Immigration advocates said the policy will add a burden on individuals and families who live and work in car-centric Texas. The change has also created confusion within the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe calls are flooding in with people just asking questions,\u201d said Monica Rodriguez, who runs a title and insurance agency in Austin. \u201cIt\u2019s not just paperwork that this is blocking. This is blocking survival. Families without legal status can\u2019t legally drive to work or get groceries \u2026 if their registration is expired, so everyday life just becomes unsafe and stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emily Heger, Texas A&M law professor and director of the university\u2019s Immigrant Rights Clinic, pointed to similar concerns in her email to The Texas Tribune. She added that the shift would ensnare various groups of people \u2014 such as asylum applicants and lapsed DACA recipients \u2014 who may have lived in the U.S. for a long time or have federal work authorization and pay taxes. <\/p>\n

Rodriguez and Alycia Castillo, the Texas Civil Rights Project\u2019s associate director of policy, said this change would also harm all Texans \u2014 from economic losses to public safety challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all less safe with hundreds, potentially, of unregistered vehicles on the road,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cEvery Texan is going to be damaged by this cruel practice that was just meant to harm immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune<\/a> and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Texas Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is implementing more stringent photo identification requirements for all vehicle registrations and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[35040,3099,35039,23682,392,56,58,57,13161,1499],"class_list":["post-68164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-alycia-castillo","tag-brian-harrison","tag-emily-heger","tag-ethnicity","tag-greg-abbott","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-race","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}