[Waryone]

I wondered about that myself. Also, if you can’t ask them about their legal status when you arrest them, how are you supposed to know you have to notify the Mexican Consulate about them?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

July 4, 2011 [Texas] Rule requiring drivers to prove citizenship now law As the House early last month debated a must-pass finance bill, one member slipped in language that puts into law a controversial Texas Department of Public Safety policy requiring driver's license applicants to show they're in the country legally.

The amendment, added by Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, to the education funding bill legislators needed to balance the state budget had originally been included in Senate Bill 9, the so-called "sanctuary cities" bill that failed in the special session. It also had appeared in an omnibus homeland security bill by Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, that died in the regular session.

The new law approved last Tuesday makes some tweaks to a 2008 DPS policy that prevents illegal immigrants from getting a driver's license and created a special license for temporary visitors. The rules require Texans applying for or renewing their license to show they are citizens or are in the country legally.

By putting it into law the state potentially undermines an ongoing lawsuit that argues DPS doesn't have authority to check legal status."....