“This law is a measure of justice for our immigrant brothers as well as a guarantee of better safety for all drivers on our roadways,” the governor said. “Our commitment is to eliminate all types of discrimination and steer a just government that promotes equality through its actions.”

The law will go into effect one year after its enactment. García Padilla signed the legislation during a festive ceremony in the heavily Dominican Barrio Obrero neighborhood in the Santurce sector of the capital city San Juan.

The measure was already being celebrated by an estimated more than 150,000 immigrants from the Dominican Republic who live in Puerto Rico, along with thousands of other migrants from the Caribbean, including Haitians.

José Rodríguez, president of the Dominican Committee for Human Rights, has said he will take steps to to ensure that police would not randomly ask for provisional licenses to persecute migrants.

The license would be issued only to those who have lived in Puerto Rico for a year and have either a passport or an embassy-issued document proving their identity. They would still have to pass the standard driving and traffic-rules tests.

Migrants who receive a provisional driver’s license would have to renew it every three years, compared with six years for a regular license. The provisional license also would feature a different design and state that it cannot be used as a form of identification or for any other purpose. The license would not say specifically that its holder is living illegally on the island.

Currently, Puerto Rico driver’s licenses can be used as the sole identification document to travel to the U.S. mainland, though the different design of the new license might make that impossible.

Ivan Ortiz, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Puerto Rico, has said the agency does not comment on pending legislation.

Puerto Rico joins a handful of U.S. states in issuing such licenses.

Immigrants living illegally in New Mexico and Washington state can apply for the same driver’s license as a U.S. citizen, while those in Utah can obtain a special driving permit that cannot be used for identification.

“The participation of foreign nationals without legal status in the social and economic processes that we partake in daily is an undeniable part of our social reality,” García Padilla said. “The contributions that these people make to our society cannot be ignored because of their immigration status. It is their contributions to the island and the respect for human dignity that make them merit fundamental protections from the state.”

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El ELA No Sirve/ Es Mentira Falsedad Engañifa/ En 6 décadas Nunca definido fuera de la Clausula Territorial
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PROTAGONIZA LA ESTADIDAD LAS VISTAS EN EL SENADO FEDERAL
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No en balde Nadie Entiende el Status de Puerto Rico – Cuando AGP con Mentiras Falsedades Engañifas lo enreda TODO
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[VIDEO] LOS SOBERANISTAS SON «PLUMITAS» según @agarciapadilla
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