Undocumented donors: how driver's licenses can help solve the U.S. organ shortage

In 2013, Illinois enacted a new law (SB 957) to allow undocumented motorists to acquire Temporary Visitor Driver's Licenses (TVDLs). We explored the impact of this legislation on organ donor registration in the state. Using Freedom of Information Act requests, we obtained the Illinois TVDL and general adult driver's license applicant organ donation statistics for the last 3 years from the Illinois Secretary of State. We found that between 2017 and 2019, TVDLs directly resulted in 91,720 newly registered organ donors. This group registered as organ donors at rates significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than the general population. In the 3 years studied, only 7.3% of general driver's license registrants became new organ donor registrants, while TVDL drivers signed up at an average rate of 44.9%. TVDLs resulted in a significant increase in registered organ donors. Similar policies implemented nationwide could increase donor registrations substantially. In addition, this finding among a population largely of Latin American origin may suggest strategies for future organ donor registration efforts globally.