Many carried handmade signs in Spanish that read, "The license is not a privilege, it is a right that we deserve" and "We have rights, we are workers; a license; legalization for all; social security." Protest organizers waited to begin the action until Sunday Mass had concluded and invited the churchgoers to join the protest. Many did so.

The protest was organized by local defenders of immigrant rights and the Community Volunteers of San Jose. Over the last year the Community Volunteers have organized numerous protests in cities across the region to demand the right to a driver's license for all.

"We are united here to demand our rights," said José Sandoval, a protest leader. As the march wound its way through the city, participants invited people to join and to sign a petition which will be delivered to the state government in Sacramento. Many people in passing cars honked their horns in support.

"We are not making bombs, we are working," said Gabriela, who volunteered to collect petitions.

"The majority of the people here work in the fields," said Ricardo Manzo Jimenez, a farm worker. "A lot cannot go to work because they don't have a driver's license. If someone buys a car for $800–$1,000, and if he drives it without a license, the police will take it away. It is a month-and-a-half's worth of wages."

His brother Salvador Manzo Jimenez has been a farm worker in the California fields for 14 years. Several years ago he was part of the fight for a union at Coastal Berry, the largest strawberry grower in the country. The company responded with a vicious antiunion campaign that included bringing thugs in to intimidate workers.

"The union election was a fraud," Jimenez said. "The company cheated on people, offering bonuses to some and firing others. We were just asking for a fair wage." There is renewed interest in the union now, added the farm worker.

The protest here, like others around the state, is in response to state government regulations requiring anyone applying for or renewing a driver's license to have a valid Social Security number. Last year, state officials began verifying Social Security numbers through a linkup with the Social Security Administration. The Department of Motor Vehicles is also verifying all existing licenses with the same body.

These measures began to be implemented in compliance with the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act passed by Congress under the Clinton administration, which required a Social Security number to be included on drivers' licenses by the year 2000. This measure was later set aside, but many states continue to move ahead with the proposal.

The requirement to show a Social Security number effectively prevents undocumented workers from Mexico and other countries from having a driver's license, a crucial form of identification not only to drive legally but for all kinds of other activities as well. In many parts of the United States the inability to drive severely limits job opportunities.

The series of protests come as the federal government is taking additional steps to turn the state driver's license into a national identification card. Washington is working with state governments to develop a uniform license that electronically stores an individual's identification information.

Under instructions from Congress, the Transportation Department is developing a new national standard that would allow a license from one state to be verified and recorded anywhere in the country.

Initial steps in 1981 and 1986 to set up a federal ID card were shelved due to widespread opposition among working people and others.  
 
 
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