Support grows in Wisconsin for undocumented to get driver's licenses

Support grows in WI for undocumented to get driver’s licenses

Undocumented workers are the backbone of Wisconsin's dairy industry
Laws in the state make it illegal for them to drive, get licenses
ProPublica writes that this makes it harder for them to get needs met

Updated: Aug 11, 2023 / 09:09 PM CDT

FILE – Cars and trucks travel on Interstate 5 near Olympia, Wash., March 25, 2019. The government’s traffic safety agency said Thursday, June 22, 2023, that it will require heavy trucks and buses to include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking equipment within five years. Automatic braking systems in heavy vehicles would prevent nearly 20,000 crashes a year and save at least 155 lives, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

(NewsNation) — Advocates in states like Wisconsin are pushing to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses.

Recently, ProPublica reported on how Wisconsin relies on undocumented immigrants to work on its dairy farms, a major industry in the state — but won’t let them drive legally. The publication said that while they can own and register their vehicles, undocumented individuals cannot get licenses, making it difficult to tend to their basic needs.

More than 100 undocumented current and former dairy workers who spoke to ProPublica said they feel isolated and stuck on the farms where they work and live.

ProPublica wrote that without a license, “the state makes it almost impossible for workers to have lives outside the farm without breaking the law.”

According to ProPublica, law enforcement officials say the roads are less safe, as undocumented immigrants who aren’t tested on driving rules are still taking to the road, often without insurance. Meanwhile, court officials say tickets for driving without a license are draining their resources and overwhelming their docket, according to the news outlet. Farmers are even having to build their employees housing, or help them find it, to avoid tickets that can cost them their wages — or make them risk being arrested and deported.

Now, WJFW reports, a coalition in Milwaukee is trying to reverse Wisconsin Act 126, which requires people to provide a social security number before getting a driver’s license. Further, part of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal for 2023-2025 includes restoring driver’s licenses to all adults regardless of immigration status, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.

While ProPublica points out that Democrats have mainly been on board with letting undocumented immigrants drive legally, the Republicans controlling Wisconsin’s legislature have been more hesitant.

Some, though, are becoming warmer to the idea, such as GOP state Rep. Patrick Snyder.

“I have some Republican voters and Republican colleagues that say, ‘Hey, they came here illegally. They didn’t come here through legal channels, so they shouldn’t be rewarded,’” Snyder told ProPublica. “I understand their concerns. But in the same sense, if we suddenly kicked out all of the people here, the undocumented, our dairy farms would collapse. We have to come up with a solution.”

Currently, 19 states have enacted laws that let unauthorized immigrants obtain licenses if they provide documentation such as a foreign birth certificate or passport and evidence of current residency in the state.

These are California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Hawaii; Illinois; Maryland; Massachusetts; Minnesota; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; Oregon; Rhode Island; Utah; Vermont; Virginia and Washington, per the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Lawmakers in other states are starting to push for giving unauthorized immigrants the chance to drive too. Axios Detroit writes that Democratic state legislators reintroduced a package that would let undocumented people get Michigan driver’s licenses. The Arizona Republic reports that two similar bills introduced this session by Democratic lawmakers have stalled, but the representative who sponsored one said she wants to include it in budget negotiations.