October 3: Governor Jerry Brown will sign a bill on Thursday that lets undocumented immigrants in California get driver’s licenses. Undocumented immigrants had a fear of being pulled over and get a ticket, which could lead to their deportation in the past. After hard lobbying for nearly two decades to push for restoration of licenses in California, immigrant advocates are now happy with the change.

In the recent years, immigrants without driver’s licenses who were pulled over for a ticket began to be screened by federal immigration authorities for deportation. However, with this encouraging move, undocumented immigrants can stay with their family in the US.

Many states are providing driver’s licenses to anyone who clears the tests irrespective of their immigration status. In California, the license would have a distinction marked that the document may be used for driving and not for federal identification purposes.

According to estimates, more than 1 million drivers will apply for the licenses, which will begin to be issued from January 2015. There have been similar bills passed in California earlier that granted driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants; however, the previous Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did not favor them.

The bill is an addition in the immigrant friendly moves California has recently adopted especially ending the partnership with federal immigration officials and the police and sheriff departments to detain undocumented individuals up to 48 hours after their release. In addition, another measure that includes overtime pay for domestic workers has also been introduced.