ELKHART -- It's not that undocumented aliens in Elkhart County want to flout the law by driving without licenses, says Miguel Jimenez Sr.
They just need a way to get to work, to school, to the store.
"You can't get a license so you have to take the risk of driving without," he explained one day recently at the Elkhart County Courts Building here, where his 20-year-old son had appeared on a charge of driving having never had a license. "It's a problem for a lot of people here."
With the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles poised to invalidate driver's licenses obtained with fake and stolen Social Security cards, many undocumented residents here are scrambling, worried how they'll manage without. At the same time, many more apparent illegal aliens drive having never bothered to get proper ID, at least gauging by local court activity, highlighting the omnipresence of the issue and the likely obstacles in any effort to combat it.
For people like Jimenez Sr., a Salvadoran national living in Bristol, the use of vehicles by undocumented and unlicensed immigrants is a function of the automobile's central role in getting around here. A well-developed public transport network or some other alternative means of travel might help, as would legislation granting illegal immigrants status to obtain licenses.
"Until then, people are going to continue driving in the street," he said. "They're never going to be able to stop it."
'A common problem'
Cases involving undocumented immigrants caught driving without licenses -- a moving violation typically leads to the discovery -- aren't exactly overwhelming Elkhart County's court system. But they are a very steady occurrence, court officials say.
The day Jimenez Jr. appeared in court earlier this month was "a little bit low," said Elkhart Magistrate Dave Denton, who handled his case and a handful of others like it that same session. "But next week it could be all driving without licenses."
Denton said he never gets into the particulars of those cited for driving without operating licenses, a class C misdemeanor. If he were to ask, though, he has an idea of what he might hear.
"I guess that most of the answers are, 'I don't have a Social Security card. I'm not here (legally) in this country and I can't get a license,'" he said. "That's a guess."
Elkhart Superior Court 5 Judge James Rieckhoff, who hears his share of such cases as well, says some of them, perhaps surprisingly, involve Anglos. But others, he says, involve undocumented immigrants, calling it "a common problem" throughout the county.
Even so, those cited for driving having never had a license don't typically count among the roughest customers that either court official handles.
"My sense is they're mostly working people who either can't get a license or won't get a license," said Rieckhoff.
Taking the risk
Indeed, the culprits caught driving without licenses who went through court during the session in Denton's packed courtroom earlier this month hardly fit the mold of hardened criminal.
Miguel Jimenez Jr., the son of Jimenez Sr., was pulled over in Bristol on his way to work at a local factory after failing to signal a turn. On discovering he had no ID, the interceding officer tacked on the charge for driving having never had a license.
Jaime Becerra-Hernandez said he's usually careful not to drive. He has a Mexican driver's license, though not one from here in Indiana.
But his girlfriend, who does have an Indiana license, just wasn't feeling good that day last month when he took the wheel en route with her from Warsaw, where they live, to Mishawaka for Christmas shopping. He explained that to the Wakarusa police officer who pulled them over on S.R. 19 after noticing that the registration on the auto's plates had expired, but to no avail.
"I never drive, just that time," he said outside Denton's office after pleading not guilty.
Still, he admits the pickle faced by those unable to get the proper ID.
"If it's close, you can walk," he said. "When you want to go somewhere far, a half hour away, there's no other way (but cars)."
Jesus Garcia, a 16-year-old Concord High School student, said after leaving Denton's courtroom that he was headed to the store when he was cited on Dec. 9. An Elkhart County Sheriff's Department patrolman initially stopped him on U.S. 33 for driving without taillights.
He doesn't have the papers necessary to get a license. Moreover, he sheepishly offered that four wheels beats hoofing it.
"It's quicker," said Jesus, who ultimately received a 60-day suspended jail sentence and $186.50 in fines and court costs -- pretty standard.
But it goes beyond that, chimed in his father, Mario Garcia, who attended court with his son. He echoed the common refrain that the undocumented population simply has no other option.
"If you don't have a license you have to take the risk," he said. "You're just careful so (police) don't stop you."