Driver’s licenses for all push gets green light at first stop in House

Minnesota roads would be safer, and the state a more humane place to live, if undocumented immigrants were able to obtain driver’s licenses, said supporters of a driver’s-licenses-for-all bill that advanced Thursday in the House.

HF1500, sponsored by House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley), would allow a person to obtain a driver’s license or Minnesota ID card without demonstrating proof of legal immigration status.

Proponents of the effort, which has attracted at least one Republican supporter in the House, say it would make Minnesota’s roads safer by allowing undocumented immigrants to drive legally and obtain insurance.

It would also lessen the fear immigrants face in getting behind the wheel, advocates say, many of whom dread the possibility they or a loved one will face deportation as the result of a routine traffic stop.

“All Minnesotans deserve to be able to work, live and take care of their families,” Winkler said.

The House Transportation Finance and Policy Division approved the bill, as amended, Thursday night and re-referred it to the House Ways and Means Committee. There is no Senate companion.

If enacted, Minnesota would join a growing list of states that allow their residents to get a license without regard to legal immigration status. The bill has drawn support from a wide swathe of agencies and organizations, including the Department of Public Safety, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and labor and religious groups.

Allowing immigrants, regardless of their status, to drive safely and legally “is important to our values as a state,” said Rebecca Lucero, the state’s commissioner of human rights.

Until 2003, residents of Minnesota did not have to provide proof of legal residence to get a driver’s license. A rule change under the administration of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty ended that practice.

Republicans on the transportation panel expressed concern during the hearing that undocumented immigrants could use the driver’s license to unlawfully register to vote, or that it would precipitate a change in legal immigration status.

Winkler said, under the bill, those ineligible to vote would be prevented from Election Day voter registration using the license and ID cards. The change would also make no change in an individual’s legal status, he said; it would only ensure that they can drive a vehicle legally on Minnesota’s roads.

“We can make sure that the consequences of a broken immigration system are not adversely affecting the people who are living, and working and contributing in our state,” Winkler said.