SALEM, Ore.  - The number of Spanish speakers taking the test for an Oregon driver's license has plummeted since requirements took effect last year that require verification of Social Security numbers.

Before Gov. Ted Kulongoski ordered the changes, which bar illegal immigrants from getting a license, between 3,000 and 5,000 Hispanics took their DMV knowledge test in Spanish. Since the order took effect, that number has dropped to around 500.

What the statistics don't say is whether illegal immigrants are still driving. They could be hitching a ride with a licensed driver, using mass transportation, getting licenses from another state or driving without a license.

The spokesman for the DMV said it will take years of studying conviction rates and insurance data to figure out if more illegal immigrants are driving without a license.

Rick Hickey of Oregonians for Immigration Reform said the news is proof that new license requirements are working.

"We're definitely not allowing illegal immigrants - people that don't have valid ID - to get licenses anymore," he said. "It's fantastic."

Community advocates say there has been no exodus of illegal immigrants as a result of the new requirements.

Francisco Lopez with the immigrant rights group CAUSA said illegal immigrants are still entering Oregon as they did before, likely more fearful of the 40 percent to 80 percent unemployment rates in their home countries than the DMV.

"The conditions where people are leaving their country of origin are much harder than thinking about taking away a drivers license," Lopez said.