On Friday, Colorado will start issuing driver's licenses and identification cards to immigrants.

Thanks to Colorado bill SB 251, around 9,500 immigrants, both undocumented and those with temporary legal status, have signed up for an appointment within the next 90 days, The Associated Press reported. They can receive the documents from one of five Department of Motor Vehicle locations. Additional immigrants continue to schedule appointments every day.

Under the law, which was passed by eight other states last year as well, immigrants must have lived in and paid taxes in the state for years, according to Politico.

The law, however, has faced criticism from those who think that providing driver's licenses and identification cards rewards illegal behavior and thus will "beget more illegal behavior," Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, told AP.

"We consider the Colorado state Legislature and the Colorado governor to be partly responsible for the surge on the border," Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that supports "reductions in immigration numbers toward traditional levels," told Politico.

Colorado State Sen. Jessie Ulibarri sponsored the bill, signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper, last June but says it's not a sufficient replacement for reform by Congress.

"Ignoring the reality that we are working with a completely broken immigration system does no one any good," he said. "Because of their inaction, we are stuck with the patchwork of state laws."

Applications for the documents opened on July 1, AP reported. Driver's licenses cost $50.50, more than the legal resident fee of $21. Identification cards cost $14, instead of the standard $10.50. The documents must be renewed every three years and explicitly state that they do not permit the holder to vote or enjoy federal benefits.

Adriana Gaytan, 41, lives in Aurora and immigrated to Colorado from Zacatecas, a state in central Mexico, in 1997.

"It's going to help us so that, for example, we're not put in the hands of immigration officials, so police don't view us as if we were criminals," she said in Spanish. "I think it's going to give us a valid identification to show police."
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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