Giving undocumented residents access to licenses is about fairness and safety, lawmakers say – NJ.com

By Teresa Ruiz and Nellie Pou

As co-sponsors of legislation that will expand access to driver’s licenses to more qualified New Jersey drivers, regardless of immigration status, we applaud our colleagues in the Senate Transportation Committee for taking an important vote on Thursday. This legislation will make our roads safer and open up opportunity for families across the Garden State.

When we drive to work or to drop our kids off at school, we don’t care where the person next to us on the Turnpike was born – we care that we will get our families home safe. New Jersey is not the first state to consider expanding access to driver’s licenses.

In fact, 14 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, already permit all qualified drivers regardless of immigration status to drive. This includes red states like Utah and New Mexico, and our neighbors in Delaware and New York. All New Jersey residents stand to benefit if more drivers are tested, licensed and insured.

Expanding access to driver’s licenses will put more families at ease across the Garden State. The Trump administration’s escalating attacks on immigrants have left many fearful of taking their children to school or going to the doctor. Thousands of families have been separated. Immigrants who have called the U.S. home for decades now find themselves facing deportation, since the Trump administration ended two key programs that protect long-time immigrants from deportation – TPS (Temporary Protective Status) and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

With the end of these programs, immigrants are also losing their ability to apply for a driver’s license. Dreamers – young people who came to this country as children, and call New Jersey home – are students, professionals, siblings, parents and neighbors. If the Supreme Court rules the Trump Administration’s end to DACA was lawful, tens of thousands more Dreamers could lose their status and drivers’ licenses. Students who are in the middle of their college education will lose their transportation to school.We may not be able to fix the federal government, but we can make New Jersey a safer place for all residents by allowing all qualified drivers to apply for a license.

Some may ask if we are giving a special benefit to undocumented immigrants. This is simply not the case. Under our legislation, individuals must meet rigorous requirements and provide proof of their identity and residency to apply for the standard license, and they must get insurance. The standard license (as opposed to the REAL ID license) proposed in this bill is only for driving purposes and cannot be used to get a job, board a plane, access public benefits or enter a federal building. Our legislation is about fairness and about safety – those are values we can all get behind.

When our parents came here from Puerto Rico, they struggled, as many families do when they migrate – our families faced discrimination and had to learn a foreign language and a new culture. But we didn’t face barriers to get a driver’s license. Driving is key to mobility, especially in New Jersey. We should act quickly to ensure more families are able to get to work, and get their kids to school.

Last year, we passed landmark legislation that expands access to financial aid to Dreamers – young people who immigrated to this country as children and have grown up here and pursued higher education in our state. Since, then, hundreds of young people in New Jersey have been able to pursue higher education and give back to our state. The driver’s license bill is the next step to make New Jersey safer and stronger for all of us. We are proud to join Assemblywoman Annette Quijano and Senator Joe Vitale and dozens more legislators as sponsors of A4743/S3229. It’s time for New Jersey to become the 15th state in the nation to expand access to driver’s licenses.

State Senator Teresa Ruiz represents the 29th Legislative District, which includes parts of Essex County. State Senator Nellie Pou represents the 35th Legislative District, which includes parts of Bergen and Passaic counties.

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