More than 1 million illegal immigrants in California have obtained driver's licenses since January 2015, when a new law kicked in, the state Department of Motor Vehicles said this week.

That amounts to about 4 percent of the state's 26 million driver's licenses.

California is one of 12 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that allow people living in the U.S. illegally to apply for identification cards and driver's licenses.

The Golden State in 1993 was the first in the country to ban illegal immigrants from getting licenses and led 45 other states in a fight to restrict them to citizens. Two decades later, the state reversed course.

The California law allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses was drafted by former Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo in 2013. Any person who could prove his identity and residence in the state would be guaranteed a license or ID card issued by the DMV.

Under the law, illegal immigrants with California licenses are not allowed to drive or fly outside of the state.

Alejo said the law is "making our roads safer for everyone."