Latinos in Dixie express worry over driver's card

ST. GEORGE — Dozens of Latinos expressed a variety of concerns over how the state's new driver's privilege card will affect them during a town hall meeting held in St. George Thursday night.

The meeting, which was held on the campus of Dixie State College and sponsored by the state Office of Ethnic Affairs, drew people of all ages and from a variety of backgrounds. It was conducted in Spanish with English translation provided through an interpreter.

The meeting was primarily held to explain the state's new driver's privilege card, which Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has signed into law. Undocumented workers without a valid Social Security number will not be able to obtain a Utah driver's license under the new law, but they will be able to get a driver's privilege card with two forms of acceptable identification.

Questions from the audience included why the new driver's privilege card was needed in the first place, and what kind of identification is required to obtain one.

"This bill was a compromise. There were other bills targeting different types of immigrants," said Yvette Donosso Diaz, executive director for the Utah Department of Community and Culture.

Diaz said she and other leaders at the meeting were not responsible for passage of the new law and should not be chastised for trying to help Latinos understand it.

"Legislators drafted it, passed it and are the ones responsible for it," she said. "That means in the future, if there are laws that you believe impact your life directly, you must get involved and ask your legislator not to pass it."

Several members of the audience said they are worried that the new driver's privilege card would be abused by law enforcement.

"This new law has not given any new authority to law enforcement," Diaz said.

St. George Police Chief Marlon Stratton said his officers would receive training to understand the new law and how to apply it.

One man said he expected his insurance rates to rise under the new law, while another man worried that a wave of discrimination would soon follow.

Mexican Consul Salvador Jimenez told the group that he was at the meeting because he "heard the Mexican community here in St. George has some concerns with the new law."