Taxi drivers without medallions in upper Manhattan share something besides Dominican accents: anxiety about their driver’s licenses.

Last week the State Supreme Court temporarily suspended the revocation of undocumented immigrants’ driver’s licenses. Yesterday members of Online, a taxi base located in Washington Heights, opened their cars’ doors to tell a reporter how they had survived the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) policy, which began with a letter sent a year ago to drivers whose Social Security numbers did not match Social Security Administration registers.

“I got the letter, and ever since then I’ve been trying to resolve this any way I can,” said Marcos Hernández, who calls the measure “driver abuse.”

“This situation is equally bad for all of us; we must form a united front to fight for our licenses,” agreed driver Julio Ureña.

Ureña’s idea is no solitary pipe dream. On March 5th, organizations that defend immigrants’ right to drive will stage a march in Queens to send a message to Governor George Pataki that denying them licenses is an attack on their civil rights.

“Drivers who can’t show a Social Security card are extremely worried, this, in effect, closes all doors to them,” said Pedro Heredia, president of the Association of Owners of Taxis Without Medallions, in upper Manhattan.

His organization represents some 8,000 drivers at 24 taxi bases in the Bronx and Manhattan. Though Heredia did not have exact figures, he commented that many drivers are in the process of changing their immigration status; “they too are affected by this,” Heredia concluded.