In my state, you need to prove citizenship or legal residency to get an original license.
If you are a citizen or permanent legal resident (a condition which does not expire), your license is proof of status.
If you have a temporary right of abode, your license should expire along with your sojurn, and proof of extension should be required along with renewal.
There's the entire issue in a nut shell.
Immigration is a Federal matter which deeply affects the States. What I see coming, is a very unconservative argument in favor of some sort of a national ID card, because it would be more expedient than attacking 50 different State legislatures, and trying to achieve equal results from State to State. In that case, conservative principles which would normally reject such an idea, would have to make compromises for the sake of solving this issue.