{"id":93920,"date":"2019-05-17T18:23:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T00:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/companeros-to-host-drivers-license-information-session-tonight-for-immigrants\/"},"modified":"2019-05-17T18:23:47","modified_gmt":"2019-05-18T00:23:47","slug":"companeros-to-host-drivers-license-information-session-tonight-for-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/companeros-to-host-drivers-license-information-session-tonight-for-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Compa\u00f1eros to host driver\u2019s license information session tonight for immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A Durango man stops by the Compa\u00f1eros office on Main Avenue. The immigration advocacy group is working with people living in the country illegally about their eligibility to obtain a state driver\u2019s license.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A new law providing more locations in Colorado for people in the country illegally to obtain a driver\u2019s license will make roads safer for everyone, said Matt Karkut, executive director of local immigration advocacy group Compa\u00f1eros.<\/p>\n

Safety is just one of the reasons why Compa\u00f1eros is assisting immigrants without U.S. identification to understand the process of obtaining a driver\u2019s license, the requirements for obtaining one and where they can be issued, Karkut said.<\/p>\n

Karkut said he\u2019s looking for volunteers to help immigrants through the process of acquiring a driver\u2019s license. Anyone interested may visit companeros.org<\/a> and submit a comment through the contact form. A Compa\u00f1eros staff member will reach out.<\/p>\n

The concept isn\u2019t new, it\u2019s just expanded, Karkut said. Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, who represents Southwest Colorado and sponsored the bill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

A 2013 law gave immigrants without U.S. identification in Colorado the right to apply for a driver\u2019s license, but the only places people without legal residency in Colorado could obtain a license were Lakewood, Grand Junction and Colorado Springs, all of which are more than three hours from Durango and at least one mountain pass away.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the 2013 law limited the number of new licenses that could be issued per office. Lakewood\u2019s office could schedule 78 first-time application appointments each day, and the Grand Junction and Colorado Springs offices could schedule 26 first-time application appointments.<\/p>\n

\"Matt
Matt Karkut, executive director of Compa\u00f1eros, says issuing driver\u2019s licenses to people who are in the country illegally improves safety on the road, makes sure more drivers are insured and encourages more people to call authorities in the event of an emergency.<\/span>Patrick Armijo\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Karkut said people in Southwest Colorado who want to schedule a Department of Motor Vehicle appointment have to be fast. Appointments are open for scheduling 90 days in advance, and if someone isn\u2019t ready to reserve an appointment the minute it becomes available, it\u2019s gone. The limited availability of locations and opportunities to receive a driver\u2019s license led to a black market for DMV appointments, Karkut said.<\/p>\n

There are likely about 200 people in the five-county region who might be interested in taking advantage of the new program, Karkut said. The problem is that many of the people who want a driver\u2019s license can\u2019t reach a location where they are available because they can\u2019t legally drive or find someone to drive them. Karkut said he\u2019s worked with about a half dozen people in the past few years who have missed an appointment for one reason or another.<\/p>\n

The new law will expand the number of locations where people without proper identification can apply for a driver\u2019s license, including Southwest Colorado. Adding more licensed drivers to the road could ensure more people who are driving know the rules of the road, lower insurance premiums by reducing the number of uninsured drivers on the road and encourage people without a legal status to contact emergency services \u2013 something they may be fearful to do if they don\u2019t have a proper driver\u2019s license, Karkut said.<\/p>\n

The requirements for someone without proper U.S. identification are exhaustive, Karkut said. Anyone in the country without permission must show some form of identity that proves their foreign status \u2013 like an ID from another country; an individual tax identification number to prove they\u2019re participating in the community; and documents that show they have lived in Colorado for at least two years, such as tax returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a bit of a complicated process,\u201d Karkut said. \u201cYou have to be a person living in Colorado, contributing to community here, paying taxes. You\u2019ve got to be an upstanding citizen to get one.\u201d<\/p>\n

bhauff@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

will expand licensing opportunities to Southwest Colorado<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[904],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-93920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-immigration"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93920"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=93920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}