MIDDLETOWN – Over 200 residents of Orange County packed the Perkins Recreation Center in Middletown on Saturday to urge passage of legislation to expand driver’s license access to undocumented New York residents.
The forum, organized by Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson and the Worker Justice Center of New York, both members of the Green Light NY coalition, was attended by State Senator Jennifer Metzger and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther.
Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson Lead Organizer Ignacio Acevedo noted individuals and families alike attended the event.
“A lot of them came here just because we want to have a good quality of living. We want to be able to go to our jobs, in case of emergency go to the hospital, so we asked today just to have the right to access to a driver’s license, literally just to drive, not for federal use, planes, just primarily to get in a vehicle, pay insurance, be responsible, take classes, go through the whole process. That’s the access we want.” he said.
Currently 12 states have laws to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, and Washington, and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
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