Groups urge dropping barriers to drivers licenses for Michigan immigrants
A coalition of immigrants and allies in Michigan has kicked off a week of action, urging the Legislature to take up bills to restore the ability of any resident to get a driver’s license, regardless of immigration status.
Since 2008, Michigan has required proof of permanent legal residency to get a driver’s license.
Nelly Fuentes, immigrant justice coordinator for We the People Action Fund, pointed out a driver’s license or state ID is not only needed for driving, but for opening a bank account, renting or buying a home, getting health insurance and more.
“Things like getting a library card, you know, buying NyQuil at your pharmacy,” Fuentes outlined. “Things like picking up some prescriptions, going to the doctor, what is the very first thing that they ask you? Your insurance card and your identification.”
The measures, House Bill 4835 and House Bill 4836, were first introduced last fall, but a public hearing was canceled at the last minute. This week, groups are urging the Michigan Legislature to reschedule a hearing and get the bills back on track.
Alsina McMorris, community member and administrative fellow at the African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs, has lived in Michigan with her family for almost 10 years. Her husband had a driver’s license, but it expired in March 2019.
Shortly afterward, she said he was stopped by police for an apparent issue with his headlights, and was then detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Knowing that we did not have an option to get a driver’s license in Michigan, we had reached out to our native land and where we got an international driver’s license,” McMorris explained. “But that did not make a difference.”
In Congress, some lawmakers back a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., most recently in the Build Back Better bill. Although it stalled in the Senate, Michigan groups say it is still a critical issue, and the state should do what it can.
6 comments
Would it really matter? Most drive with no license, and No insurance. Getting a drivers license will not ensure that they are insured. Get into an accident, just skip out. The people that are insured ( by law) are paying for it.
Indeed, the people supporting this are morons.
Their idea is that people here illegally are having a hard time getting licenses, so we need to make it easier for them. The OBVIOUS solution is to start deporting people who should not be here.
It’s like saying that there are too many murderers on death row, so we need to make murder legal…
100% right on. What part of the word illegal do they all not understand? They are a blue state so there you go. LMOA
You guys in the comments are corny first off there not talking about there immigration status they can still get deported.
regular Americans right now still drive without a license or insurance ,they hit and run just the same the people that are illegal in the country do it more yh for obvious reasons and maybe not all of them are gonna get insured BUT atleast i think majority of them will get insured and itll be more of them on the road insured than before ,because right now if they hit you the straight up dont have insurance and later if they get what they want with the bills i atleast now theres no reason for them to not have insurance
Ive gotten hit by both and none of them had insurance
Actually, their immigration status has EVERYTHING to do with the article. Maybe instead of overlooking the crime of being here illegally, we need to actually start prosecuting the crime of not having insurance. Lock them up, then deport them if they are here illegally. Note that I am calling for locking up the uninsured Americans also. We already pull their license…
I think the problem there having is that when they pull over the immigrants and ask em for a simple license and registration majority of the time they literally got nothing (outside registration)and just get detained and turned over to ICE the cops just doing his job trying to figure out the persons identity thats whats happening now but i think what the laws are trying to do is even though there here illegally there trying to make it legal for them to be on the roads and not go through that problem with a simple flick it does sound weird and your right they are overlooking the “here illegal”and at the same time lets say the cop pulls him over and he has his drivers license whether either from being a citizen or if these laws pass aint no way that cops gonna ask him if he has a green card he’ll lose his whole career
And you get what a ticket? And impounded if your caught without insurance😁well normally i do think they should crackdown on that insurance idk how though