Oregon starts issuing standard driver licenses to undocumented immigrants Friday owing to a law passed by the state’s legislature in the summer of 2019.

The law, originally introduced in the Oregon House as HB2015 and later signed into law as the “Equal Access to Roads Act”, eliminates the requirement for persons to prove US citizenship or legal presence in the US to be issued a non-commercial driver license or an identification card. Starting Friday, persons will only need to prove that they live in Oregon, pay a fee and pass the necessary driving tests to be issued a driver license.

The Act’s proponents have praised the law, saying that it will benefit communities including and beyond undocumented immigrants. A group of advocacy organizations commented that “[b]etween 80,000-100,000 Oregon residents could benefit from driver license expansion” and that “[t]he most impacted communities include Oregon’s undocumented population, seniors, homeless/houseless folks, domestic violence victims, and other Oregonians who have difficulty accessing their birth certificate and other paperwork necessary to prove their citizenship status.”

Similarly, the ACLU of Oregon stated that “[i]t is essential for all Oregonians to have access to driving privileges, regardless of their ability to provide documentation that proves lawful immigration status.”

The Act coming into force follows a previous move by Oregon to allow undocumented immigrants to be issued driver licenses without having to prove citizenship or legal presence in the US. Oregon used to issue eight-year driver licenses in that manner but the last such license expired in 2016.