The Department of Motor Vehicles in California is gearing up for an expected flood of new applicants next year once a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses goes into effect on Jan. 2.

The law, which was passed earlier this year, allows the state to issue licenses to undocumented workers who pass the official driver's license test. In order to prepare for an anticipated 1.4 million applications from undocumented residents, the DMV has hired more than 900 additional staffers, extended its hours and opened four new offices in Granada Hills, the Orange County city of Stanton and Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. In addition, a new super-size office building in San Jose includes 54 teller windows. Altogether, the state invested $141 million into handling the special license applications over the next three years.

"We've been getting ready for over a year," DMV spokesman Armando Botello told the Los Angeles Times. "We are definitely ready."

Supporters of the law say it will make the roads safer for drivers by ensuring that all people behind the wheel have passed written and road tests and enable them to get car insurance.

"No longer are undocumented people in the shadows," California Gov. Jerry Brown said when he signed the law in 2013 according to Fox News Latino.

Likewise, the bill's author, Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo, also believes the bill will help the undocumented population.

"Our state is getting ready to offer these families a chance to get to work, a chance to bring their children to school and a chance at making it to the hospital during medical emergencies by allowing undocumented Californians to earn a driver's license," he said.

However, immigrant-rights advocates argue that the licenses may cause discrimination against the undocumented looking for housing or making a purchase since they will be distinguished with the phrase "federal limits apply" written on the front, and the sentence "This card is not acceptable for official federal purposes" written on the back.

Republican lawmakers, on the other hand, criticize the bill as a measure to reward illegal behavior.

Related