So she was often embarrassed of being a U.S. resident without a green card. In fourth grade, she lied on a homework assignment about her family tree, saying her relatives were from the United States.

Now, as an undocumented University of Utah student, Claudia said she has learned to be proud of who she is - but it's not always easy.

About two weeks ago, when she tried taking money from her Washington Mutual banking account, the teller refused to take her only form of identification, a Utah driving privilege card, the document that replaced driver licenses for residents who don't have proper documentation.

"It was the first time I felt ashamed of it in a long time," said Claudia, who moved from California to Utah five years ago. "I can't help but think, 'What is this person thinking about me?' . . . It might be negative."

(Claudia is not her real name. She asked that she not be identified for this story because of her undocumented status.)

It's been seven months since the state started issuing people without a Social Security number driving privilege cards, which cannot be used as a valid form of identification at any Utah government entity. Some banks are accepting the cards as a form of identification, but at least one is not, leaving undocumented customers uncertain about where they can use them.

Wells Fargo Bank and Zions Bank - Utah's largest banks when ranked by state assets - accept the card as a primary form of identification, said representatives of the companies based in Salt Lake City. Washington Mutual does not accept the driving privilege card as a form of identification, said a company spokeswoman in Seattle.

Early this year, before the law, there were roughly 94,000 undocumented people who had a driver license, identification card or both, Department of Public Safety officials have said.

As of last week, the state has issued some 14,400 driving privilege cards since March 9, a day after Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed Senate Bill 227 into law. Only Utahns with Social Security numbers may apply for a state driver license or identification card. The driving privilege cards look similar to Utah driver licenses but have phrases printed in red.

Supporters of Senate Bill 227 had said that most businesses, such as insurance companies and banks, would accept the driving privilege card.

But Robert Gallegos, a community activist who helped organize rallies and meetings in opposition of the bill during this year's legislative session, said he gets call after call from people who have problems using their driving privilege cards.

Gallegos, a Utah native, said he is looking into about a half-dozen complaints where undocumented workers with the cards have not been able to take out their money from a bank or the bank is charging them extra fees to accept the card as a form of identification.

"Banks need to be honest about what [identification] cards they are going to honor," said Gallegos, president of RAZ Political Action Committee. "They need to tell people up front, before people put their money in the bank."

The Washington Mutual spokeswoman said the company has not sent customers a letter saying it would not accept the driving privilege card as identification. Gallegos suggested that banks should send out such a letter saying which forms of identification they accept.

"They can't be keeping people's money," he said. "People have the right to get their money."

Claudia has been banking at Washington Mutual in Utah since she opened her savings account when she was 15. When the driving privilege card became law, she said a teller told her the card would be accepted.

Claudia, who traded in her Utah driver license for a driving privilege card in August, said she had not had any problems using her card as a form of identification until she was at the bank's branch in downtown Salt Lake City. She needed $20 to put gas in her car on her way to work, but the teller told her he couldn't accept her card under bank policy. She always uses her ATM card to take out cash, but didn't have it on her.

Claudia, who is in the process of becoming a documented U.S. resident for more than a decade, said she feels sorry for those undocumented workers who don't know English and how the system works. She said getting a driving privilege card is considered a risk by some undocumented people because they're not sure if it will get them in trouble with the law or businesses will turn them in to immigration officials.

"The problem is not going to go away because you brand it," she said.

jsanchez@sltrib.com

By the numbers

l From 1999 to 2004: Number of state cards issued to people without a Social Security number:

Utah identification cards: 37,481

Utah driver licenses: 56,498

l From March 9, the day the law changed to require driving privilege cards for those without Social Security numbers, to Oct. 9: Driving privilege cards issued: 14,404

Utah IDs returned: 670

l For information about the driving privilege card, go to:

http://driverlicense.utah.gov