12801.5.
(a) Except as provided in Section 12801.9, the department shall require an applicant for an original driver’s license or identification card to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant’s presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.(b) Except as provided in Section 12801.9, the department shall not issue an original driver’s license or identification card to a person who does not submit satisfactory proof that the applicant’s presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.
(c) The department shall adopt regulations to carry out the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, procedures for (1) verifying that the applicant’s presence in the United
States is authorized under federal law, (2) issuance of a temporary license pending verification of the applicant’s status, and (3) hearings to appeal a denial of a license, temporary license, or identification card.
(d) On January 10 of each year, the department shall submit a supplemental budget report to the Governor and the Legislature detailing the costs of verifying the citizenship or legal residency of applicants for driver’s licenses and identification cards, in order for the state to request reimbursement from the federal government.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 40300 or any other law, a peace officer shall not detain or arrest a person solely on the belief that the person is an unlicensed driver, unless the officer has reasonable cause to believe the person driving is under 16 years of age.
(f) The inability
of an individual to obtain a driver’s license pursuant to this section does not abrogate or diminish in any respect the legal requirement of every driver in this state to obey the motor vehicle laws of this state, including laws with respect to licensing, motor vehicle registration, and financial responsibility.
(g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2015, or on the date that the director executes a declaration pursuant to Section 12801.11, whichever is sooner.
(h) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2016, or the effective date of a final judicial determination made by any court of appellate jurisdiction that any provision of the act that added this section, or its application, either in whole or in part, is enjoined, found unconstitutional, or
held invalid for any reason, whichever is sooner, and, as of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes effective on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed. The department shall post information relating to a final judicial determination on its Internet Web site.