A state legislator also said the state's policy of issuing IDs might have aided some suspects in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Under N.C. law, anyone in the state can receive ID cards and licenses without showing proof of residency.
N.C. Department of Motor Vehicle officials said they are concerned about immigrants abusing the system. The DMV has been trying to get a bill passed in the state legislature to require license and ID card seekers to provide proof of N.C. residency.
"This is a significant issue," said Wayne Hurder, DMV director of Driver License Certification. "We have traditionally reached out to immigrants because we feel that if you're going to be driving here anyway, it needs to be safely. But when the system begins to be abused, something has to be done."
Hurder said officials noticed the problem when citizens began to complain of excessively long lines at DMV offices along state borders.
"There are reports that noncompliant businesses from other states send illegal aliens to North Carolina by the bus loads to receive licenses," said Rep. Nelson Cole, D-Orange, co-chairman of the N.C. Transportation Committee.
The N.C. General Assembly will vote on the bill before the end of September. If passed, the bill will go into effect Jan. 1. "The bill has been attached to the special provisions part of the appropriations budget," Cole said. "I don't know of anyone who opposes it in the House or Senate."
Along with ensuring that ID and license recipients are N.C. residents, lawmakers want to ensure that registered taxpayers are the ones receiving them.
"The secretary of revenue has said that out of the 378,000 Hispanic population in the state, there has been $31 million in tax liability shortfalls," Cole said.
