The consular permit pushed by the Mexicans and now the driver’s license for the undocumented, are conquers obtained in several states of the Union. And in other areas of the country they are currently an empowering issue for the organizations advocating for the immigrants.

The recent approval of driver’s licen-ses for the undocumented in California turns on a light of hope for the illegal immigrants of our region who have been struggling for a long time for that benefit. After two years of rejection, the governor of California, Gray Davis, finally gave the green light to the project, without a doubt to earn the vote of the California immigrants whom he desperately needs to come out victorious from the elections in which his destitution is at play.

Presently, a similar law is being studied in Massachusetts by the legislature and, as it happens in other states of the country, the project has harsh enemies but also a great possibi-lity of approval. And the victory of California can also has worth here if the organizations of immigrants of our region understand the power that the political pressure exerted by the Californians had to help “convince” Gray of the convenience of signing this piece of legislation.

The political influence of the immigrant’s communities every day exerts more pressure upon the state governments of the United States. The consular permit pushed by the Mexicans and now the driver’s license for the undocumented, are conquers obtained in several states of the Union. And in other areas of the country they are currently an empowering issue for the organizations advocating for the immigrants.

Just as it happened in California, currently in Phoenix, Houston and the central coast demonstrations are taking place in front of the legislature and also hunger strikes to push the approval of this legislation.

We are convinced that the law will have a positive impact in Massachusetts as well and because of that we believe that our legislators must approve it.

To obtain a driver’s license without having to reveal the migratory status guarantees the human rights protected by the Constitution of the United States, particularly the right to work for thousands of undocumented immigrants who contribute to the national economy and the economy of their countries. At the same time, it will increase the safety in the highways because the drivers will have to pass the driving test and acquire insurance for their vehicles.

Those who are against this law claim that to grant licenses to the undocumented could be highly dangerous for the safety of the country in this time of war against terrorism. However, this argument has been left repelled by the content of the law which specifies that finger prints and personal data will be registered to help the verification of identity of thousands of immigrants who today are in the shadows.

There is sufficient proof of the enormous contributions made by the immigrants to the U.S. economy, which surpasses 10 million dollars annually. The 8 million of undocumented pay taxes and they are inexpensive labor to keep many industries of the country in their feet.

For these reasons, the immigrants without papers deserve the same respect than any other worker in the United States. If they can chop food, clean offices, and baby-sit, they can also drive.