SALEM — Maria Sevilla, of Madras, joined hundreds of people from around Oregon in front of the Capitol on Wednesday, where Gov. John Kitzhaber signed into law a measure that allows those who can’t prove their legal residence the ability to obtain driver cards.

Sevilla has been in the country for more than 20 years and worked at a fast-food restaurant in Madras for more than a decade. Senate Bill 833 gives her the ability to obtain a four-year driving card. The bill signing coincided with a May Day rally whose theme was “immigrant spring.”

Proponents of the measure said the four-year driving card would improve public safety and ensure that undocumented drivers have passed qualifying tests. Opponents said those in the country illegally should not be granted driving privileges; they do not need a driver’s license to drive to somewhere they legally can’t work. The organization Oregonians for Immigration Reform said it is gathering signatures to put the issue on the ballot with the hope of overturning it.

Sevilla, 41, said she often worries when she’s on the road what would happen if she were in an accident. Without a driver’s card, she can’t obtain insurance. This will change that, she said, and ease her fears about driving uninsured with her four children. Having a piece of identification will also allow her to go on her daughter’s field trips, she said. Right now, she has nothing to prove who she is and so the school can’t conduct a background check.

“It’s for the security of my children, and for other drivers,” she said in Spanish. “If we were in an accident, we don’t have a way to pay for it.”

Max James, 43, has lived in the U.S. since the mid-1980s and called Culver his home for the past 16 years.

“Having a piece of identification is important to me, the same way it’s important to you,” he said. “It’s an important piece of life.”

Identification is requested at the doctor’s office, or checking on a child at school, he said.

“Animals have identification, you can find a number on a dog or horse,” he said. “We have no identification.”

And for Guillermo Ramirez, 59, of Madras, who works on a farm, obtaining a driver card and then getting insurance will mean he’ll feel safer every day as he cruises down U.S. Highway 97.

The bill doesn’t mandate insurance, but state law requires liability insurance when driving.

The governor also signed a bill this session granting in-state tuition to undocumented Oregon students, as long as they meet certain requirements.

Kitzhaber, who spoke in Spanish for part of his speech Wednesday, said the driving card law would not only improve public safety, but help Oregonians contribute to the state and economy.

But, he said, the goal is larger than that.

“This bill is motivated by a larger vision — one where all Oregonians deserve and get their shot at the American dream. One where we are committed in our policymaking and in our daily lives to equity and opportunity for all. Where we are creating secure jobs with upward income mobility, and supporting safe, secure communities where people have a sense of common purpose and commitment to one another,” he said in a statement.