The “Fallout Shelter” signs at either end of the room told that long ago someone foresaw a different use for it. But one Saturday in March, the big basement of Our Lady of Pompey Catholic Church in the Highlandtown neighborhood of Baltimore turned into a workroom where about 80 people waited for a volunteer who was helping them get driver's licenses.
One by one they were called from a list as they sat on green plastic chairs, which, added to greenish tile walls, gave the ill-lit room an eerie look.
Folding tables were arranged in two rows. An electrical humming noise came from somewhere.
“Too much bureaucracy,” a man who was waiting said in Spanish to all who would listen. “Too much bureaucracy. Too much bureaucracy.” He held in his hands a thin envelope stuffed with papers that spilled out.
Soon he was being helped by a Mexican attorney who volunteers at CASA de Maryland, a Silver Spring-based non profit group that carries on license workshops throughout the state.
Then the yelling began. “It’s the MVA. Don’t get mad at me,” said the attorney. “The MVA sets the rules.” The man walked away in disgust.
Last year Congress passed a bill that aimed to make it hard for illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. The REAL ID Act gives states until 2008 to standardize their licenses and denies them to people who cannot show that they entered the country legally.
“In the [Washington] metropolitan area, only in Maryland the REAL ID Act is not in effect,” said Francisco Cartagena, the director of CASA’s licensing campaign. “If Gov. Ehrlich decides to sign it into law tomorrow, it’s over. Then the only way to get a license would be a Social Security card and in this room no one has that.”
Still, while an illegal alien can get a driver’s license in Maryland, the MVA rules make it exceedingly hard. The system is geared for American citizens and residents but some loopholes are exploited.
“This was made for Americans but we just tag along,” said Cartagena.
The complicated system allows a person to produce two of what the MVA labels primary documents. Or, in lieu of that, someone can present a primary document and two of a broader category, secondary documents
Some primary documents can be used by illegal aliens: a birth certificate from their country, a baptism act as long as it was done no later than a year after birth, a school transcript and a foreign passport with a visa. The visa can be expired.
Secondary documents can be car registrations, telephone bills, cancelled checks, bank statements, etc.
An added problem arises because the documents have to be translated. Translating a birth certificate at an MVA-approved business can cost up to $170.
Since everyone in the room spoke Spanish, having enough English knowledge to face an MVA employee set yet another hurdle.
Cartagena has identified three offices that are the friendliest toward Spanish-speaking immigrants: Glen Burnie, Frederick and Salisbury.
“No MVA office in Baltimore can help us make this easy because we are Hispanic.” he said.
But still, a lot depends on the people who work at Maryland’s MVA branches.
“We never know what criteria the MVA man is using,” he said. “In Glen Burnie there are 100 windows. One person gets the license and another doesn’t.”
Toward the end of the workshop, Cartagena introduced a man who had gotten his license with CASA’s help. People looked starry-eyed as he pulled his license out of his wallet and held it up for all to see.
“When does it expire?” someone asked.
“2011,” replied the man.
“Wow,” several voices said at once.
