Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants

ALBANY – Last Monday, local organization Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson bused over 110 residents from Kingston, Middletown, Newburgh, Monroe, and Poughkeepsie to the New York State Capitol Building for a statewide mobilization to support driver’s license access for undocumented immigrants.

Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson is a steering committee member of the statewide Green Light NY: Driving Together coalition, which planned the mobilization, and has led the effort to expand access to driver’s licenses.

The Green Light coalition mobilized over 330 people in total from around the state to Albany to support bill A10273/S08680, which would make this expansion, and currently has 24 Assemblymembers and four State Senators as co-sponsors.

In response to the coalition’s organizing, the legislation has become a core issue in the Democratic primary of the New York Governor’s race, with progressive challenger Cynthia Nixon making driver’s license expansion to undocumented New Yorkers a campaign plank and Governor Andrew Cuomo not having backed the legislation

Currently, 12 states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont and Washington — and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted laws to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.

New York law currently requires residents to have a social security number in order to obtain a driver’s license. A lack of access to driver’s licenses means that undocumented New Yorkers are unable to drive to work, buy groceries, take their children to school, attend church, or even take family members to a hospital in case of emergencies without risking deportation due to a routine traffic stop where they cannot produce a license and are then arrested for that infraction.

Expanding driver’s license access to all New Yorkers won’t just benefit undocumented immigrants, it will benefit everyone. New York State and County governments will receive an estimated $57 million in combined annual revenue, and $26 million in one-time revenue through taxes and fees, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Licensing undocumented immigrant drivers will help lower insurance premiums for all residents, by an estimate of $17 per person each year, which collectively saves motorists millions of dollars annually.

Expanding driver’s license access to undocumented immigrants will also enhance road safety for everyone. With access to driver’s licenses, undocumented drivers will learn the rules of the road, pass written and road tests, purchase auto insurance, and register their vehicles.

New Mexico changed its policy in 2003, and shortly after, the state’s rate of uninsured motorists fell from 33% to under 9%.

“A lack of access to driver’s licenses means that undocumented New Yorkers are unable to drive to work, buy groceries, take their children to school, or take family members to a hospital without risking deportation due to a routine traffic stop,” said Jonathan Bix, Executive Director of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson. “President Trump’s new deportation force is increasingly targeting immigrant drivers, making driver’s license expansion one of the strongest measures New York could take to protect undocumented immigrants.”

“We always have fear to drive to work, or to drive to school with our kids. We always have the fear. That’s why I am fighting for all New Yorkers to gain driver’s licenses. We should all be treated equally. We should have the same rights and benefits no matter the language you speak, the color of your skin, or the country where you are from. We all have the same rights as human beings,” said Victor, an undocumented member of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson and Middletown resident. “My getting a driver’s license would benefit the economy of the state. I could buy a car, pay registration, buy insurance. And the roads would be safer.”
“I know what it’s like to have to drive and be afraid that if the police stop you, you’ll have to tell them you don’t have a license,” said Diana Lopez Martinez, a member of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson and Kingston resident. “Driver’s licenses make it so much easier to go to doctor’s appointments, your job, to pick up your kids from school.”

“Undocumented immigrants upstate are forced to take the risk of driving without a license every day. Driver’s licenses will make it easier for undocumented immigrants to pick up prescriptions or get their children from school. The ability to get a driver’s license is a necessity, not a privilege,” said Ignacio Acevedo, Lead Organizer at Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson and Newburgh resident who was undocumented for 17 years. “Equal access to driver’s licenses will also benefit all New Yorkers by growing the economy, lowering insurance costs, and increasing road safety.”