"It's been giving me headaches," said Maria, an undocumented Utah resident and mother of three who doesn't want her full name used.

The news is that legislators are considering a bill that would replace driver licenses with "driving privilege cards" for undocumented immigrants. Another bill would deny such people the privilege of driving at all.

Maria and her husband both work two jobs and depend on their car to get to work and church, to take their children to school, and to get to the doctor and the grocery store.

Hundreds of Latinos rallied at the state Capitol on Friday, wrote complaint and suggestion letters to legislators and attended meetings earlier last week to hear Latino advocacy groups rail against the proposed legislation. Even the Senate is torn between party lines, with Republicans voting for it and Democrats against.

Senate Bill 227 would give "driver privilege cards" to people who used a federal individual tax identification number (ITIN) instead of a Social Security number to get a Utah driver license.

Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, sponsored the bill after a recent informal audit by the Legislative Auditor General revealed abuses, including 62 drivers listed under one address, and 14 who may have used the ITIN and voted during the last election.

"Just having one illegal alien vote in a Utah election is one too many," Bramble said before SB227 passed 18-8 during a preliminary Senate vote Friday. A final Senate vote is expected Monday. If it passes, it will move on to the House. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said he supports SB227.

The other option is House Bill 330, which would take away driving privileges for those using the ITIN.

Though having a card that gives them driving privileges sounds better than nothing, Maria and her husband said they're wary of anything that would identify them as undocumented residents.

But members of some Latino groups say Maria and her husband may not have a choice.

"It's not the perfect thing, but we need to have a compromise. If not, we risk losing the licenses completely," said Joe Reyna, a member of Mexicanos en el Exterior and the Utah Legislative Task Force that supported SB227. "It still allows people to drive legally," he said.

Bramble said SB227 would allow undocumented workers the privilege of driving, but not confer rights granted only to citizens.

"A driver's license, in many ways, is a ticket accessing the right to citizenship," he said. "The right to buy firearms, the right to vote, these are rights the issuance of a driver's license allows access to."

Bramble also doesn't see the potential for an increase in police profiling because driver licenses currently being issued with the ITIN number already confirm the person doesn't have a Social Security number and is probably in Utah illegally.

"If, as a state, we wanted to round them all up and put them in boxcars and ship them out, it could be done today," Bramble said.

Bramble also said Latino claims that the audit is unreliable are exaggerated. The audit showed 95,000 licenses or state ID cards were issued to people who appear to be undocumented and 14 of them may have voted. "If anything, that's only the tip of the iceberg," Bramble said. Republican lawmakers plan to request a full-blown audit based on the initial findings.

Some Utah law enforcement agencies are staying out of the SB227 controversy entirely or saying there's not yet enough information to form an opinion on how the bill's passage would affect patrol officers.

"We recognize it's a legislative decision and we'll just abide by that," Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Wade Breur said. He added that "driving privilege cards" would allow holders to obtain insurance.

The potential for police profiling, Breur said, isn't a legitimate concern because, by statute, local and state authorities are not allowed to ask for a person's immigration status. Besides, he said, reporting traffic violations of every undocumented immigrant would overwhelm U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for ICE, said the agency cannot comment on any pending legislation.

The Salt Lake City Police Department took a similar view.

"Until we see the final piece of legislation, I would say we don't know how it would affect us," Detective Dwayne Baird said.

Reyna and others worry much more about HB330. If a compromise isn't struck, Latinos could be left without alternative driving options, he said.

If it comes to that, Maria and her husband said they may stop driving altogether and probably forgo some family activities.

"We'll figure out a way," Maria's husband said, comforting her during a homemade dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and tostadas.

The Latino advocacy group Raz PAC and others have been organizing meetings all week, encouraging Latinos to encourage lawmakers to vote down HB330 and SB227 and wait for federal laws to dictate what states can and can't do regarding driver licenses and ID cards for undocumented residents.

The meetings have been packed with people like Marta Ruiz of Salt Lake City. Though she is a U.S. citizen, she worries about how the changes will affect the lives of her neighbors and friends.

"I don't want to see this passed," she said during a Thursday meeting at the Centro Civico. "I've never attended meetings like this but I'm here because, yes, there are a few bad people, but others shouldn't be punished for the actions of a few."

If the bills fail, which seems unlikely, people without a Social Security number would still be legally allowed to use the ITIN to get a driver license.

Although no Latino groups support HB330, those who oppose or support SB227 have bickered bitterly and sometimes personally. Even Salvador Jimenez Munoz, the Mexican consul in Salt Lake City, has been criticized for not showing up at meetings on the issue. While Jimenez has met with supporters of SB227, he said his office can't interfere in the political process of another country and will not take a position.