New Mexico plans to crack down on driver's license fraud with a punch of technology.
Before the end of this year, New Mexico motor vehicle offices will begin to use bar code scanners to check the validity of documents like bank statements and utility bills.
These documents are sometimes illegally copied and used by multiple people to try and obtain a driver's license, according to a spokesman with the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department.
In 2003 New Mexico passed a law that allows foreign nationals to apply for a driver's license without showing proof of legal residency. That makes the state one of only two in the country where illegal immigrants can obtain a nationally recognized driver's license.
Since that law was passed, state officials estimate thousands of people have obtained a driver's license by fraudulent means. The state legislature has failed to repeal the law on three different occasions.
