The Work and Family Mobility Act: The Fight for the Right of Undocumented Immigrants to Legally Drive in Massachusetts

Jul 3

There are currently 33 states in the United States that don’t offer undocumented immigrants the opportunity to obtain a driver’s license. As a result, millions of people in the U.S. operate a vehicle illegally on a daily basis, lacking proof of driving competence and car insurance. After 20 long years of fighting, on June 9 of 2022, Massachusetts joined the 16 other states in the U.S. to provide the approximately 250,000 undocumented immigrants the opportunity to drive legally in the state.

The Massachusetts Work and Family Mobility Act will take effect on July 1, 2023, and allow all immigrants, regardless of their legal status in the U.S., to apply for a standard driver’s license. Additionally, as mentioned by Boston’s local news platform, GBH, this law “prohibits the Registry of Motor Vehicles from asking about or keeping documents related to immigration status.” Once this law is in effect, undocumented immigrants must provide the Registry of Motor Vehicles a foreign passport or a consular identification document. Before the Work and Family Mobility Act was passed, Congress had to vote to override Governor Charlie Baker’s veto and disapproval of the law. The legislators voted to override the Governor’s veto with their vote of 32-8, a more than two-thirds majority in support of the law being passed.

Although 1in every 6 Massachusetts residents is an immigrant , the development and passage of this law has been a very big controversial topic for the state. A poll conducted by Suffolk University and the Boston Globe, revealed that approximately 47% of respondents opposed the new legislation while 46% of respondents supported it; there were about 7% of respondents who mentioned they were unsure about their thoughts on this new law. Evidently residents of the state of Massachusetts hold mixed opinions on providing undocumented immigrants the right to legally drive.

There are various politicians in Massachusetts as well as nonprofits and coalitions that have worked very hard to advocate for this new law. Some politicians include Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu and senators Lovely, Crighton and Gomez who took leadership in working on and advocating for the passage of the Massachusetts Work and Family Mobility Law. The Driving Families Forward Coalition has also been a very big advocate for this law. They united immigrant communities, advocates, and other stakeholders throughout Massachusetts that coordinated a unified campaign for undocumented immigrants to be granted the right to legally drive in the Massachusetts.

Supporters of this law believe that the state of Massachusetts has been positively impacted by immigrants who deserve the right to drive and fully participate in their communities. They also utilize the positive outcomes that other states have seen as evidence that this law can be beneficial for all Massachusetts residents. Some of the examples used to advocate for the passage of this law are provided below:

A study conducted by Roger Williams University revealed that on average, poverty rates are higher among states that do not allow undocumented immigrants to legally drive compared to those that do.
Research conducted by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center revealed that once California passed its law to allow undocumented immigrants to legally drive, they experienced up to 10% fewer hit and runs per year.
The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center also found that New Mexico experienced an 80% decrease in unlicensed drivers once they began allowing undocumented immigrants to legally drive.
According to GBH News, five years after Connecticut allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license, the number of unlicensed driving cases fell by more than 30% (from 16,000 to 10,449).

On the other hand, opposers of the Work and Family Mobility Act believe that providing undocumented immigrants with the right to legally drive is not in the best interest of Massachusetts’ communities. As illustrated through his veto of the initial passing of the law, Governor Charlie Baker has made his disapproval of the law very apparent. As noted by media outlets like NBC Boston, Governor Baker believe that this piece of legislation would allow for undocumented immigrants to be issued state credentials without actually verifying their identity; several opposers then believe that the lack of such verification could lead to illegal voting.

Additionally, some fear that the personal information of those who are undocumented can be accessed by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department. An article published by The Center for Public Integrity (before the Work and Family Mobility Act was passed) in 2021 highlights the fact that only 4 out of 16 states that allow undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver’s license require agents to present a court order or arrest warrant signed by a judge before they share any personal data. The Center for Public Integrity also sheds light on a Washington Post investigation which revealed that ICE submitted thousands of facial recognition requests to state registries of motor vehicles between 2015 and 2016. It’s important to note that the Work and Family Mobility Act prohibits the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles from keeping any documents related to one’s immigration status. However, some undocumented immigrants might still be afraid of and are apprehensive about applying for a driver’s license.

While some are counting down the days for the Work and Family Mobility Act to go into effect with anticipation, others still oppose its existence and are hesitant about its potential impact. Once in effect, this law will have life changing impacts on the lives of thousands of undocumented residents in Massachusetts, providing them with a newfound sense of autonomy and living their lives in less fear.

Sources:

License Report - Roger Williams University | Roger Williams University. https://www.rwu.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/lpi/drivers-license_report-legal.pdf.
“U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement.” American Immigration Council, 24 June 2021, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/us-citizen-children-impacted-immigration-enforcement.
Jones, Colin. “Care for Our Commonwealth: The Cost of Universal, Affordable, High-Quality Early Care & Education across Massachusetts.” Mass. Budget and Policy Center, 27 Sept. 2021, https://massbudget.org/2021/04/28/care-for-our-commonwealth-the-cost-of-universal-affordable-high-quality-early-care-education-across-massachusetts/.
“Undocumented Immigrants Can Get Licenses. Ice Can Get Their Data.” Center for Public Integrity, 28 Jan. 2022, https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/immigration/undocumented-immigrants-licenses-ice-data/.
Burrell, Chris. “Pandemic Pushes Debate over Driver's Licenses.” News, GBH, 16 Nov. 2020, https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/11/16/pandemic-pushes-debate-over-drivers-licenses.
Harwell, Drew. “FBI, Ice Find State Driver's License Photos Are a Gold Mine for Facial-Recognition Searches.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 Aug. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/07/fbi-ice-find-state-drivers-license-photos-are-gold-mine-facial-recognition-searches/.
“Ice.” ICE, https://www.ice.gov/.
Palumbo, Alysha. “Mass.. Legislature Overrides Gov. Baker's Driver's License Bill Veto.” NBC Boston, NBC10 Boston, 9 June 2022, https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-senate-expected-to-override-gov-charlie-bakers-drivers-license-bill-veto/2743058/.
“Driving Families Forward Coalition.” Driving MA, https://drivingma.org/coalition/.
Betancourt, Sarah. “Mass.. Senate Overrides Baker Veto: Undocumented Immigrants Will Be Able to Get Driver's Licenses.” News, GBH, 9 June 2022, https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2022/06/09/mass-senate-overrides-baker-veto-undocumented-immigrants-will-be-able-to-get-drivers-licenses.
Person. “The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 1 May 2022, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/01/nation/read-full-results-suffolkglobe-poll/.