Starting Monday, non-U.S. citizens will be able to obtain a standard Illinois state driver's license under a law designed to remove the stigma immigrants face when dealing with police and give them more options for accessing consumer services.

In addition, an annual state gasoline tax increase indexed to inflation will take effect, bringing the levy to 47 cents per gallon, while the diesel fuel tax will rise to about 55 cents per gallon. The increases, up about 3% from last year, are part of a 2019 measure that doubled the gasoline tax to fund Gov. JB Pritzker's $45 billion “Rebuild Illinois” construction program.

The state's decision to issue regular driver's licenses to noncitizens comes at a time when Illinois is taking an increasingly progressive stance on immigration, an issue that has divided the nation and become a major point of contention since migrants crossing the southern border were shipped to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Pritzker signed the driver's license bill shortly after it passed the Democratic-led General Assembly during the spring 2023 session, putting Illinois in line with states like California, New York, New Jersey and Oregon that have similar laws.

Foreign Minister Alexi Giannoulias said the law promotes “equality and fairness” for drivers, but also considers it “clearly a given” for other reasons.

“This is critical and will lead to safer roads, safer roads, safer roads,” Giannoulias said in an interview. “We need to make sure they have a driver's license, pass a road test, do a vision test and learn the rules of the road.”

Giannoulias' office points to a 2017 Stanford University study that showed no negative impact on traffic safety from changing driver's license status for noncitizens. The study showed that the total number of crashes, including fatalities, did not change when California's version of the law took effect about a decade ago, and hit-and-run crashes fell by as much as 10% in 2015 compared to 2014.

Immigration advocates have been trying to get Illinois to allow noncitizens to obtain a type of driver's license since at least 2007. At the time, then-state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, a Democrat from Chicago, introduced a bill that would have issued special driver's licenses to noncitizen immigrants. The proposal narrowly passed the House by a vote of 60 to 56, but ultimately failed in the Senate.

In 2013, the General Assembly passed a measure, later signed by then-Governor Pat Quinn, to issue temporary visitor's licenses to noncitizens in Illinois. According to the Secretary of State's office, Illinois was one of the first states to begin issuing temporary visitor's licenses.

Since then, more than 300,000 TVDLs have been issued, the office said. However, unlike regular driver's licenses, TVDLs cannot be used for routine tasks such as signing a rental agreement or picking up medication from the pharmacy, the Secretary of State's office said.

At an event at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago to celebrate the passage of the new driver's license law in 2023, Democratic Senator Ram Villivalam said the measure will have “real-life impacts” on noncitizens who cannot use their ID to get a prescription at the pharmacy or access other essential services.

At the same event, Giannoulias said that TVDLs “have become an indicator of a person’s immigration status and unfortunately expose that person to discrimination.”

“We wanted to make sure we could eliminate that discrimination this time,” Rep. Barbara Hernandez, an Aurora Democrat who was a key sponsor of the new measure in the House, said in a recent interview. “I know a lot of families are looking forward to this. They're very excited about it because they're tired of being targeted in many facilities.”

Under the new law, applicants must go through the same process as for a TVDL. Individuals eligible for a regular driver's license must have lived in Illinois for more than a year and be able to provide a passport or consular card, proof of residency and proof of insurance, the Secretary of State's office said.

The bill would also prohibit the use of driver's license information for immigration enforcement purposes, and immigration officials would have to present a court warrant, order or subpoena to request the personal information.

Giannoulias' office said it has also taken additional security measures to ensure that non-citizen drivers cannot obtain a REAL ID card or be added to Illinois' voter rolls.