It can be risky business when the Island’s undocumented residents get behind the wheel and drive. To go to the doctor. To attend church services. Or just to get to work.

There’s always the anxiety shared by many of them, prohibited by state law from obtaining a driver’s license because they lack a Social Security number or other appropriate documentation, that they’ll get pulled over and arrested.

Make no mistake: many are taking the risk anyway. Exhibit A is the stream of men and women who are processed in criminal court at the Edgartown courthouse on the first Thursday of each month, when interpreters are made available for defendants. A common charge is operating a vehicle without a license. According to records provided by the Edgartown district court clerk’s office, nearly half of those cases processed from March 2016 through this past March involved defendants who faced a charge of driving illegally, usually in addition to other motor vehicle charges. In June 2016, for example, three quarters of the cases included an unlicensed driver charge.

With heightened concern among the Vineyard’s undocumented — the majority of them Brazilian — about being rounded up and shipped back to their native country, finding some way for them to drive legally has gained more urgency.

“In order to get to work, to get to school, to get your groceries, in most places in our state, you have to drive. And public transportation is not sufficient,” said state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, whose district includes the Vineyard. “If folks who are undocumented cannot get a driver’s license, they may have to drive without one in order to sustain their livelihood — and I’m sympathetic.”

For their part, police insist they must enforce current law no matter how sympathetic they may be. And there’s a serious public safety concern with unlicensed drivers who may not have had driver’s training, education about Massachusetts motor vehicle laws and insurance. For example, the lion’s share of unlicensed drivers attract the attention of police because of other unlawful, sometimes dangerous driving, including speeding, drunken driving or, more seriously, negligent driving that threatens other drivers.

“It’s a terrible problem, both for the individuals and the police who are in charge with enforcing the law,” said Cape and Islands district attorney Michael O’Keefe.

There are no precise statistics about the number of undocumented residents on the Island. Various unofficial estimates put the size of the Brazilian population at anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 people or more, with at least half of them believed to be undocumented. Generally regarded as hard-working and law-abiding residents, their anxiety level about deportation has risen substantially since last year’s presidential campaign and the advent of the Trump administration.

Among their fears — unfounded for the most part, police say — is getting targeted by local police, exposed as undocumented and sent back to their country of birth.

During the past several months, some have expressed concerns publicly about the unlicensed driving issue. “I have heard that raised in nearly every forum I’ve been a part of,” said Rep. Fernandes. “And I think for good reason. It’s really a serious issue, and a serious public safety issue.”

The Rev. Edivar Da Silva, who administers Catholic rites to the Portuguese-speaking residents of the Island, said earlier this year that church attendance had been suffering in part because of that fear. He said he advised parishioners to carpool with licensed drivers so that they could safely get to mass.

“The Brazilian community is afraid, even if they have licenses from other states, they might be stopped and might be deported,” he said in an interview.

The issue has statewide, even national, implications. According to Census Bureau data, 80 per cent of Massachusetts residents rely on a vehicle to get to work. By the latest numbers, the state has approximately 175,000 undocumented immigrants, with 60,000 in the 24 to 34 age demographic.

“We can assume that many, if not most, of these state residents are already driving on our roads and highways,” according to a 2015 letter to legislative leaders from the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), an advocacy group.

The solution for some is to obtain a license from states that don’t require the same level of documentation, namely Social Security numbers. Valerio DeStefani, who runs two businesses in Vineyard Haven, has had driver’s licenses from Florida and New Mexico. “That’s the one thing I tell my friends — go to another state,” he said. “Most of them go; some don’t . . . . You can do it. That’s one thing you can do. Don’t blame politics, the government.”

Should there be a similar license in Massachusetts that undocumented residents can obtain?

“Oh yeah! But that would just be a Band-Aid,” said Mr. DeStefani, who came to the U.S. from Brazil in 2000 and with his wife Sonia runs Sweet Bites and Bite on the Go. “I think what they should do is comprehensive immigration reform. Fix the problem.”

Officials say that may buy drivers some time, but it’s not a reliable long-term solution, since state residents must ultimately get a Massachusetts license. But those other states that have cards that allow the undocumented to drive could serve as a model for Massachusetts, advocates say.

At least nine states, including Vermont, have adopted a two-tier approach to licenses — one that complies with the tougher post 9/11 federal standard and another that allows the holder to drive but not use the card to meet other government ID requirements, such as airport security screening. A bill calling for such a card was introduced in Massachusetts earlier this year, but it has yet to gain a hearing and appears to face an uphill climb, given Gov. Charlie Baker’s efforts to beef up ID requirements and other legislative priorities.

Amy Grunder, legislative affairs director for MIRA, the immigrant and refugee advocacy group, says her organization favors some form of driver’s license for people who are undocumented, but one that would not necessarily flag their status to authorities. The license would be available to all drivers who can’t meet the federal standard or don’t want to.

Law enforcement officials on the island insist that they are not an arm of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the federal agency that sends chills up the spines of the undocumented — but they nevertheless find themselves stuck in the middle of the issue. There are serious public safety implications when unlicensed drivers take to the road.

For example, late last July, one unlicensed driver, a Brazilian national who had been cited several times previously, allegedly caused a three-car collision on the West Tisbury Road in Edgartown that sent two people to the hospital with minor injuries. The next month in Oak Bluffs, an unlicensed driver from Ecuador was charged with driving under the influence and sideswiping four cars with his pickup, police said.

Officials also acknowledge there are holes in safety net to keep track of repeat violators. And it’s questionable whether the typical sanction serves as a deterrent: $100 court costs and eight hours of community service for the first offense; $200 and 16 hours for the second.

Nevertheless, the two police chiefs contacted by the Gazette said they wouldn’t oppose some legislative accommodation that would allow people who are undocumented to drive, provided the proper safeguards were in place. For example, Oak Bluffs Chief Erik Blake says any such effort would need to properly vet applicants and safeguard against fake IDs.

West Tisbury chief Daniel Rossi pointed to Island employers who look the other way when their unlicensed workers to drive company vehicles. Citing those employers and issuing hefty fines, “I think sends a better message,” he said.

“I will follow the law whichever way it comes down,” said Chief Blake. “I would say I would not oppose it if it has those safeguards are in place.”

“It’s not illegal to be in the country undocumented, unless you’re a criminal,” said Chief Rossi. “I personally wouldn’t have problem with it.”

District Attorney O’Keefe, however, brushed aside questions about a driver’s license for the undocumented and pointed to a larger question — inaction on broader immigration reform.

“And the failure can be laid at the feet of U.S. Congress, who have failed to address this issue for over 30 years now,” he said.