This is the first in a series of blog posts that I am writing as a Denver traffic lawyer, about the pros and cons of the SB-251, affectionately referred to by the majority of my clients as “la licencia marcada,” or, “the marked license.”
Shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, many states, including Colorado, tightened up regulations and administrative procedures for the procurement of State issued identification cards and drivers’ licenses.  The various governmental agencies were rightfully concerned about being able to adequately verify the identification of those people who requested official ID documents.
What this meant as a practical matter for the tens of thousands of undocumented aliens who live in this state is that they could not legally acquire a drivers’ license if they could not show proof of residency in the State of Colorado.   This led to an uptick in citations for NVOL (no valid operator’s license) which led to an inevitable and almost exponential increase of persons who fell into suspension of a driving privilege for accumulation of points (consider for a moment that in Colorado you are assessed six points for a second or subsequent charge of driving without a license and that adult drivers cannot surpass eleven points in any given twelve month period).
Given the fact that more and more people were facing jail for driving without a license and, by correlation, without insurance, the Colorado legislature passed a bill about four years ago to allow undocumented people living in Colorado with an opportunity to procure a valid drivers’ license.  Please keep tuned for my next post which will outline the procedural requirements for obtaining this type of license.
Eduardo Ferszt,  Aurora CO traffic lawyer