News that the state will cancel the car registrations of possibly thousands of undocumented immigrants has caused panic and created rumors among those living in central Ohio.

Before Aug. 24, a loophole in the state Bureau of Motor Vehicle’s policy allowed immigrants to register cars in their names by using a power-of-attorney form, even if they didn’t have a driver’s license.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety closed the loophole after delaying a crackdown on possibly fraudulent registrations for more than a year.

After The Dispatch reported on the delay, the bureau sent letters at the beginning of October to more than 47,000 people statewide whose vehicle registrations didn’t list a Social Security number or Ohio driver’s license or ID number. The state gave them until Dec. 9 to prove residency at a local BMV and pay $3.50 or have their canceled.
The change in policy was not aimed at a particular population, said BMV spokeswoman Lindsay Komlanc. “We have a responsibility to confirm that every document we use is verifiable.”

Not everyone who received a letter was an immigrant, she added.

But the impact on undocumented immigrants and their families – many of whom are Latino – will be severe, said Julia Alachan, who came to Columbus from Honduras in 2000 and volunteers with local Latin soccer leagues.

Illegal immigrants, like many other central Ohio residents, rely on their cars to get to and from work and school, she said. “It’s not like in New York or Los Angeles where a bus is coming every four or five minutes. There isn’t other transportation.”

Concern over the new policy has sown seeds of misinformation within a community already isolated by a language barrier, cultural differences and fear of deportation.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/01/immigrant_fears.html?sid=101

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