A bill to repeal the law cleared the House of Representatives this session only to die in the Senate.

Martinez says she will continue trying to revoke the licensing law, which means she may have to reshape the Democrat-controlled Senate in the next election.

Legislators in 2003 approved the law that allows immigrants without authorization to be in America to receive New Mexico driver's licenses.

To qualify for a license, they must prove they live in New Mexico and provide identification documents, such as a birth certificate from their home country or, in the case of Mexican citizens, a Matricula Consular card.

Martinez said the licensing system weakens border and national security.

Giving undocumented government-issued New Mexico licenses enables them to move about the country and gain access to secure buildings, such as federal courthouses and power plants, Martinez said.

Marcela Diaz, executive director of the immigrant organization Somos Un Pueblo Unido, said Martinez's attacks on New Mexico's licensing law are being done purely for political gain.

"This is a wedge issue by a political party," Diaz said of Republicans.

She said New Mexico's law enables hard-working people to drive to their jobs so they can support their families and pay their taxes. It also gives police a more complete database of drivers, Diaz said.

Like the governor, Diaz expects the fight over driver's licenses to go on indefinitely.

"This issue will probably get played out over the next four years. We really have our work cut out for us," Diaz said.

Ultimately, Martinez cannot win her fight unless she gets more Republicans in the Senate. Democrats hold a 27-15 advantage in that chamber. That was more than sufficient to stop the House bill to repeal the driver's license law.

Only one Senate Democrat, John Arthur Smith of Deming, voted against his party's plan to retain the existing licensing law.

Martinez may take aim at border senators who fought her on the issue.

One is Sen. Stephen Fischmann, D-Mesilla Park, who is in his first term. Fischmann readily says that he won election because President Barack Obama invigorated Democratic voters in 2008.

Fischmann showed a streak of independence this session, helping Martinez with her education initiatives — a successful one to grade every public school and a failed one to retain thousands of third-graders who do not read proficiently. But he never wavered on licensing unauthorized immigrants.

Neither did Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City. Morales was a member of a special legislative committee of House and Senate members that reviewed the driver's license stalemate. He voted to block the House bill that would have revoked the licensing law for undocumented.

Morales, in his second term, is among the younger senators at age 38.

Three other Senate Democrats who supported the existing licensing law are in their 70s or 80s.

Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, 74, of Dona Ana, said she proudly stood with immigrants and opposed the governor on the driver's license bill.

Sen. Mary Kay Papen, 78, of Las Cruces, said nothing during the floor debates, but she also voted to retain the system that enables undocumented to receive driver's licenses.

The oldest member of the Senate, 85-year-old John Pinto of Tohatchi, also supported the licensing law for undocumented.

Only two other states have driver's license laws similar to New Mexico's.

Utah provides driving permits to undocumented. The permits are not supposed to be regarded as state-issued identification.

Washington, like New Mexico, issues driver's licenses to people without proof of immigration status.