Attorney General warns of scams targeting immigrants as new driver's license law takes effect.

Driver's licenses for everyone, regardless of immigration status, seems like a no-brainer. It gives everyone a shot at taking a test to prove they're capable of operating a car, which should make the roads safer, which should also save money for insurers.

That was the logic Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, deployed to get the Legislature to pass AB 60, the Safe and Responsible Drivers Act. 

The bill takes effect Jan. 1, and means DMV will no longer require proof of immigration status to issue a license. Some 1 million Californians are expected to get licenses under the new law. 

In preparation for AB 60, DMV has hired additional staff, held trainings, and is opening new, temporary offices to handle extra driver's license appointments.

In the frenzy, California Attorney General Kamala Harris is warning immigrants of possible scams—an unfortunate side effect of many legislative efforts to improve conditions for immigrants, including federal immigration reform.

Harris issued an alert Dec. 4 advising driver's license applicants not to pay anyone who claims to have connections to the DMV, or to pay anyone to help them apply for a license at all. 

"The process is simple and the DMV provides free resources to guide you," the AG's alert states. "You should not pay anyone to help you complete driver license documents."

Also beginning Jan. 1, it will be illegal for anyone to accept money for completing a driver's license application for someone else.  

People applying for a license must still have proof of identity, California residency, and pass a written test, vision test and behind-the-wheel test. 

Alejo, author of AB 60, also sees a connection between offering legal licenses to undocumented immigrants and other struggles. Undocumented immigrants make easy targets for opportunists looking to defraud desperate people who may not speak up, for fear of deportation. 

Recall the King City towing scandal and arrest of the acting police chief, his brother and another officer for allegedly targeting undocumented immigrants and impounding then selling their vehicles. 

"This corruption scandal illustrates why we need to provide an avenue for undocumented immigrants to obtain a valid driver's licenses," Alejo told the Weekly in March.