Magdelena Saucedo Gomez, right, of Salem, stands with community leaders and organizers at the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles Headquarters in Salem Monday, to hand-deliver more than 5,000 signed petitions calling for a delay in implementation of new drivers license rules issued under a November executive order by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. - AP Photo

SALEM (AP) — As Oregon prepares to join most other states by stiffening requirements for immigrants’ driver’s licenses, Hispanic groups in the state are asking for a delay.

On Monday they turned in over 5,000 petition signatures to Oregon’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division in Salem, asking for a one-year delay in implementation of the new rules.

“We are finding out through our outreach efforts that it’s not enough time to inform tens of thousands of people about the executive order,” Ramon Ramirez, president of Oregon’s farmworkers’ union. “We need an extension.”

Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed an executive order in November that would require applicants to show proof of legal residence to get an Oregon license, probably after Feb. 4.

Kulongoski has said all Oregon driver’s licenses might become invalid as ID for boarding commercial airliners or visiting federal office buildings if the state doesn’t comply with federal requirements insisting on proof of legal residence for a license.

Many lawmakers want Oregon to stop giving any driving privileges to undocumented immigrants when it adopts the new federal rules requiring proof of legal presence in the country.

Kulongoski has proposed an alternative plan that would adopt the “legal presence” standard for a license valid for identification, but create a secondary “driving only” card for those who cannot prove legal residence. It would still require them to know the rules of the road.

It has gathered only limited legislative support. Utah is the only state with such a system.

As of now immigrants in Oregon can use a Mexican ID card supplied only by the Mexican Consulate in Portland to get Oregon licenses. That would end when the new rules take effect. Oregon is one of only a handful of states that does not require proof of legal residence for a license.

The Oregon Transportation Commission last month revised and tightened standards for obtaining, renewing or replacing an Oregon driver’s license, permit or identification card.

The new revisions are scheduled to be adopted by the transportation commission, probably on Jan. 18.

But Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman David House said the rules also could affect large numbers of American-born Oregonians because of differences between some names and dates of birth on file with the DMV versus data on record with the Social Security Administration.