What year did California, New York, and Illinois first allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver licenses?
Executive summary
California began issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented residents under AB 60 in 2015 [1] [2], Illinois adopted a law taking effect July 1, 2024, to allow undocumented people to obtain a standard state driver’s license [3] [4] [5], and New York historically did not require proof of lawful presence for licenses prior to 2002 — the sources report that before 2002 undocumented residents could obtain licenses, but they do not identify a single “first year” when that practice began [6] [7].
1. California — AB 60 made 2015 the clear turning point
California’s modern statutory permission for undocumented residents to obtain a driver’s license arrived with Assembly Bill 60 (AB 60), implemented in 2015, after which hundreds of thousands of people received AB 60 licenses in that first year alone [1] [2]. Reporting and policy summaries document the law’s rollout and effects — for example, one source states that well over 600,000 people received AB 60 licenses in 2015, and advocates framed the measure as a road-safety and inclusion policy while critics warned about federal limitations on AB 60 cards for certain purposes [1] [2]. The source material also traces the legislative back-and-forth that preceded AB 60, noting earlier 1990s and 2000s efforts in California to require proof of lawful status and later attempts to repeal or chip away at those requirements, underscoring that 2015 was the explicit policy reversal that created a statewide, statutory pathway for undocumented people to be licensed [6] [7].
2. New York — “Prior to 2002” is what the record shows, not a single founding year
The reporting indicates that New York’s licensing practice allowed people to obtain driver’s licenses without proof of lawful presence up until 2002, meaning undocumented residents were able to get licenses before that cutoff [6]. Legal and academic summaries place the major shift in many states to the 1990s — with some states first tightening rules in that decade — and they specifically document that New York’s practice changed around 2002 when proof of lawful presence became more commonly required statewide [7] [6]. The available sources do not, however, identify a single year in which New York first began issuing licenses to undocumented residents; rather, they describe a period during which states, including New York, historically did not require immigration-status verification and then moved toward verification requirements by the early 2000s [7]. Because the supplied material reports “prior to 2002” rather than an initial enactment date, the most accurate claim that can be drawn from these sources is that undocumented people could obtain New York licenses before 2002, but the sources do not specify when that permissive practice originally began [6] [7].
3. Illinois — a recent statutory change made July 1, 2024 the start date
Illinois replaced its Temporary Visitor Driver’s License (TVDL) regime with a standard driver’s license available to noncitizen residents — including undocumented immigrants — effective July 1, 2024 [3] [4] [5]. Multiple state and local reports confirm the date and the practical effects: the law removed the visually marked TVDL and began issuing four-year standard licenses labeled “Federal Limits Apply,” and state officials reported large uptake in the months after the law took effect [8] [5]. Advocates framed the change as reducing stigma and improving road safety by bringing more drivers into the licensed-and-insured system, while proponents also emphasized limits on sharing Secretary of State data with immigration enforcement as a statutory protection [8] [5].
4. Caveats, counterpoints, and gaps in the sources
The sources collectively provide clear, cited years for California and Illinois (effective July 1, 2024) but treat New York differently: they document that New York did not require proof of legal presence “prior to 2002” without identifying an origin year for that permissive practice [6] [7]. Historical context matters: until the 1990s many states did not explicitly prohibit undocumented people from obtaining licenses, and then a wave of legislative changes in the 1990s and early 2000s tightened requirements — the supplied material points to that pattern but does not permit a definitive “first year” for New York [7]. Where advocacy organizations, state press releases, or legal guides appear in the record, they carry explicit agendas — advocates emphasize safety and inclusion, while some opponents have pushed for federal-compliant REAL ID limitations — and those perspectives are visible in the cited sources [1] [8] [9].