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Max says, if it becomes law, he will trade in his Utah driver license for a state-issued "driving privilege card" because he wants to follow the rules here - a place his family calls home.
Max, an illegal immigrant, is one of tens of thousands who will be stripped of their driver licenses and issued a different-looking card starting July 1, if Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signs Senate Bill 227, which passed the Legislature on Tuesday. The driving card, which will be issued to people who do not have a Social Security number, will read: "For driving privileges only - not for identification."
The bill was passed on a 53-18 vote by the House after an hourlong discussion. The Senate had previously approved it.
To become law, the bill needs to be signed by Huntsman, who has until March 22 to do so, said Tammy Kikuchi, the governor's spokeswoman. She said Huntsman has supported the bill, but will want to see a final version and review it before he decides whether to put his signature on it.
With two-thirds voting in favor of the bill in the Senate and House, the new law will go into effect immediately if Huntsman signs it.
That means Utahns without a Social Security number will not be able to get a driver license or an identification card, said Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, the bill's sponsor. State-issued identification cards will expire July 1, and driver licenses on a holder's birthday after July 1, he said.
Tony Yapias, a Latino activist, said he was disappointed lawmakers approved the bill.
"For our community, it's a sad day," he said standing in a crowded hallway on Capitol Hill. "There's a lot of fear already in the community."
Max, who works as a restaurant cook, said he will get the driving card so he can continue to support his wife and three kids. But, he said, he is concerned about how he's going to cash his paychecks, since the card will not serve as official identification.
"We need something to drive. We need to work," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. "What are we going to do? There's nothing we can do now."
Lawmakers who supported the bill said state driver license rules needed to change because some illegal immigrants are using licenses to vote in elections and buy firearms. Most lawmakers cited a legislative audit that showed roughly 95,000 non-legal U.S. residents have obtained either a state driver license or ID card since the law was changed in 1999. Of those, 383 registered to vote and 14 allegedly voted in the last election.
"A driver's license is access to the rights of citizenship," Bramble told lawmakers during a House Republican Caucus meeting before the House vote.
Bramble also told the group he called state Public Safety officials and asked them to notify federal immigration authorities after a Feb. 18 rally against the bill by hundreds of people, including illegal immigrants, at the Capitol.
"I wanted to know if they were interested in immigration enforcement," he said after the meeting. "And they said, 'No.' ''
Bramble said Utah licenses and ID cards are losing credibility around the country because almost anyone can get them. With the new driving card, people will have acquired a driving record and be able to obtain auto insurance, he said.
"Our agenda is not to deport undocumented citizens," Bramble said.
"I'm not a racist," he said later. "I'm trying to find a compromise."
During the House discussion of the bill, Bramble made an unusual move and stood behind Rep. Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, the bill's House sponsor.
Lockhart said she doesn't agree that people carrying the driving card would be more vulnerable to racial profiling.
"If I get pulled over now, that police officer has no idea what I have in my pocket," she said. "It's not like you're wearing a badge or there's a sticker on your car. It's in your pocket."
Rep. David Ure, R-Kamas, backed the bill but said it has "some very big gaps in it."
"But I also believe this is something we're going to have to deal with. I hope that Congress has the guts for once in their life to deal with it," he told House members.
"We have a work force here that keeps our cost of living low. We [exploit] them as labor. At the same time, we have to have them here. We ought to start to realize that they have a privilege to drive."
After the House vote, a handful of Latino community activists walked out of the session, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Robert Gallegos is a member of the Raz Political Action Committee, a coalition that opposed the bill. He said he fears that immigrants - legal and illegal - will be discriminated against when they show their driving card. "Whenever these people use this identification, they're going to be looked at as second-class citizens," Gallegos said.
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Reporter Rebecca Walsh contributed to this report.
If Senate Bill 227 is signed into law:
*What is a "driving privilege card"?
The card would replace driver licenses for people without a Social Security number. It would be issued to anyone who wants to drive and does not have a SSN. The card would look different from a license.
*If I don't have a Social Security number, when would my driver license expire?
On your birthday after July 1.
* Would I still be able to use the new driving card as official identification?
It would not be accepted as a form of identification by a government entity other than for driving.
* What if I have a Utah identification card?
If you do not have a Social Security number, your Utah ID would expire July 1. There will not be a card that will replace it.