AUSTIN (KXAN) — The board of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, unanimously voted Thursday to pass new identification requirements when registering vehicles in the state.
A DMV spokesperson said the new guidance was intended to ensure the “validity of ID documents required as part of the registration process.”
The push for the guidelines, which now require proof of legal status, began in November 2025. Thursday’s vote made those guidelines official.
Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, started a social media campaign aimed at ID changes that would prevent people who entered the country illegally from registering and renewing vehicles in the state.
Harrison previously told KXAN in a statement that he was “proud to have single-handedly forced this change to stop illegals from registering vehicles.” In a social media post Thursday, Harrison said it was “insane this was happening for so many years.”
Some counties already began enforcing the new requirement, but a few weeks ago, KXAN reported that Travis County Tax Assessor Celia Israel said her office was not.
“I wholeheartedly disagree with this rule and will not enforce this rule until it is properly authorized,” Israel said during a January hearing.
Israel also said that beyond the effects on the industry, she was worried the rules would mean more fraud and uninsured drivers on the roads.
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Prior to the vote, Israel said the current state law did not demand that vehicle owners be legal residents, just residents.
KXAN reached out to Israel’s office to ask if Thursday’s vote would mean her office would start enforcing the rule. We will update this story when we hear back.
