North Carolina decided on Thursday to abandon its plan to issue pink-striped driver's licenses to certain illegal immigrants after this was met with mounting criticism, ABC News reported..

Spokesman Mike Charbonneau from the state's Transportation Department claimed that the pink-striped licenses looked too similar to traditional licenses and this necessitated the need for a change in the design.

"My understanding is that when we're looking at that design, at the end of the day, we had to make sure we were following the letter of the law in the most efficient way possible," Charbonneau said.

The license to be issued to young adults participating in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will instead look like regular licenses but will be printed with "LEGAL PRESENCE / NO LAWFUL STATUS" and "LIMITED TERM," in bold red letters.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Hispanic groups, and Jewish leaders had criticized the proposal for singling out holders of that identification, claiming it to be discriminatory.

"Our efforts do not end when major discrimination turns into minor discrimination; it ends when we are 100 percent positive that discriminatory policies will not go into effect in our state," said Rabbi Eric Solomon of Raleigh's Beth Meyer Synagogue.

The state Attorney's General office said in January that state law requires North Carolina to issue drivers licenses to qualified applicants who were brought to the U.S. as children without legal authorization.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Pat McCrory said Thursday the governor supports the new design.