Redistricting won't be the only combustible issue New Mexico lawmakers must tackle during a special legislative session this fall. Add immigrant driver's licenses to the list.

Gov. Susana Martinez earlier had hinted at raising the issue again when legislators return to Santa Fe for a special redistricting session, likely to happen in September. She confirmed her plans Monday.

"We are going to fight for it during the special session," Martinez said Monday afternoon during an impromptu news conference. "We are going to fight for it because example after example keeps popping up of how easy it is to defraud not only the system itself but to get documents — fraudulent documents — that are notarized, and then they have a valid ID. It makes New Mexico attractive for people who are also a criminal element."

New Mexico is one of the few U.S. states that issues drivers' licenses to individuals regardless of whether they are in the country legally. But despite making it one of her legislative priorities, Martinez during this year's 60-day legislative session lost her bid to repeal the 2003 law that codified the practice. A bill that would have ended the practice passed the House, but the Senate balked at the proposal, causing the legislation to die on the last day of the session.

Supporters of the current law are ready for the showdown, an immigrant-rights advocate said Monday.

"I can't imagine a lot of legislators would want to do this, but it's not news to us," Marcela Diaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, an immigrant-rights group, said of Martinez's plans.

"It's unfortunate she is fixated on this one issue," Diaz said. "There are so many other issues that are important to New Mexicans."

State lawmakers will have their hands full with redistricting and will start work on the issue this summer by holding hearings to solicit public comment on proposed district maps.

A decennial tradition, redistricting calls on state lawmakers to redraw the state's legislative and federal congressional districts. Martinez, a Republican, could act as a counterweight to the Democratically controlled Legislature. The governor must sign into law the redistricting plan passed by lawmakers.

If the Legislature and the governor can't agree on new district boundaries, the courts will settle the dispute, which is what happened a decade ago.

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or at tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.