The REAL ID law has lots of loopsholes to grant driver's licenses:

Although many feel that the real ID law is aimed at keeping illegal aliens from getting ID, Juan Mann, at his VDARE site, writes that that law is full of handy loopholes that will either enable the unentitled to get licenses, or enable those in the US for a very short time to get licenses good for a year. Some quotes from his article, REAL ID . . . REALly For Illegal Aliens:

"Here’s the point: illegal aliens with a "pending" application for anything are still illegal aliens. But under REAL ID, they can still get a state driver’s license."

To support the above, Mann explains that it's easy to have a pending application:
"Aliens who file frivolous, bogus immigration applications just to be able to present proof that an application is "pending" ... could care less that the application couldn’t possibly be granted."

" ... the aliens listed in group (viii) (“has approved deferred action status”) are really illegal aliens and criminal alien residents who have already been ordered deported, but the federal Government has decided to "defer" the "action" of actually carrying out the deportation. ... they’ll have the federal government’s blessing for their state temporary driver’s license."