New Jersey just became the 15th state to pass a bill letting unauthorized immigrants obtain driver’s licenses

New Jersey has joined 14 other states in passing a law allowing unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses — meaning that nearly half of the estimated 10.6 million unauthorized immigrants currently in the US now live in states with such laws.

Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill passed by the New Jersey Legislature on Monday night. The legislation would create two forms of driver’s licenses: a federally compliant Real ID license that let people board planes, and a “standard” driver’s license for driving and identification, for which unauthorized immigrants could use foreign passports or driver’s licenses to apply rather than a Social Security number. If signed, the bill would go into effect in January 2021.

The states of California, Connecticut, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington, Illinois, Vermont, Maryland, Delaware, Hawaii, Oregon, and New York, as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, already offer driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants — meaning that roughly 5.3 million unauthorized immigrants nationwide would be eligible to get one, according to 2017 estimates.