Should Undocumented Immigrants be able to obtain a Driver's License?
The Work and Mobility Act has been added to the November 2022 ballot for Massachusetts voters. Read an updated analysis of this act and its implications here.
The ongoing debate of whether or not undocumented immigrants should be able to get their driver's license has been going on for decades. This problem falls within an individual state’s jurisdiction. Thus far, a total of 16 states in America plus the District of Columbia allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.1 The Work and Mobility Bill, which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain a drivers’ license, has finally passed in the House after years of contention. The bill is now set to face steep opposition in the Massachusetts State Senate, raising several questions regarding why permitting driver’s licensure for undocument immigrants has been heavily debated. There are many pragmatic reasons as to why undocumented immigrants should be able to acquire a driver’s license, such as increasing road safety, but this bill is supported by varied legal arguments as well. I argue that not allowing undocumented immigrants their driver's license directly violates Articles 13 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, hinders undocumented immigrants from gaining citizenship, and goes against this group’s civil rights.
In the upcoming years, there will soon be a law that requires everyone to obtain a REAL ID or a driver’s license in order to fly domestically in the U.S..2 This will potentially pose a difficult problem for undocumented immigrants who need to fly somewhere in the U.S. Without having a driver’s license, immigrants will not be able to fly anywhere in the U.S., whether for business reasons or personal reasons. U.S. citizens would have the option to drive to their destination, rather than fly. But under the current legislation in Massachusetts, this option would not be legally viable for undocumented immigrants either, as they would need to travel without a driver’s license. As such, it can be argued laws prohibiting driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants should be passed as a security measure. The REAL ID was a measure created after the 9/11 attacks to increase federal security at airports.3 However, these regulations create a cage around undocumented immigrants. They cannot fly, and they also cannot drive legally. Fundamentally, these laws preclude undocumented immigrants from accessing work opportunities, grocery stores, and several other necessities.
These ramifications underscore how these restrictions ultimately violate human rights. A violation can be defined as “disallowance of the freedom of thought and movement to which all humans legally have a right.”4 The United Nations, specifically the High Commissioner, is the one that has “principal responsibility” when it comes to dealing with Human Rights issues.5 Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to freedom of movement” within the borders of each country.6 It is a legitimate human right to be able to move freely. This Article was violated during the Cold War Era when the U.S. government imposed travel restrictions to Cuba.7 But this was quickly overturned in the Supreme Court case United States. v. Laub, which declared that prosecution directed at people who violated the travel ban illegally.8 This set a precedent that demonstrated that individuals should be allowed the choice to travel no matter what is going on in the world. Granting undocumented immigrants a license would follow the precendents set by the U.S. government. The violation of Article 15 would no longer be a problem because the barrier of moving freely would be removed. The constant fear undocumented immigrants live with when driving would be taken away. The necessity to drive to work to make money, buy groceries, and go to the pharmacy, among other significant daily tasks, would be satisfied.
Article 5 is another article that is being violated, which says that “no one shall be subjected to… inhumane or degrading treatment.”9 Knowing that there are people subjected to fear of deportation every time they get into a car out of necessity for their survival is inhumane. Being stopped from obtaining a driver’s license only because you are undocumented is degrading. If everyone else is allowed the right to travel without inhumane treatment, what makes undocumented immigrants so different? The solution is allowing all undocumented immigrants the chance to get their driver’s license, because then all these human rights articles would stop being violated and finally be enforced.
Opponents against this type of bill contend that driver’s licensure will pave the way to grant undocumented immigrants legal citizenship status.10 Another contention is that even if undocument immigrants are given a license, there are not any documents to substantiate that they are who they claim to be, which could result in increased fraud.11 However, the legislation’s language specifies that obtaining a license requires undocumented immigrants to present a form of identification, like passports, which are hard to falsify. In this legal debate perspective, a driver's license does not give someone legal status; it merely gives them identification and the ability to drive legally. As such, this bill does not counter any previously enacted law, like allowing non-citizens to vote, or giving non-citizens a social security number. Importantly, undocumented immigrants are still legally limited in almost all the things they can do. The narrow scope of this legislation only allows them to drive without fear of being deported for illegal travel without a license. Moreover, granting everyone an opportunity to obtain legal identification increases security overall. It allows people to be able to be easily identified by a valid American ID, which ends up being safer for all parties involved.
Not allowing undocumented immigrants access to a driver’s license is also a civil rights issue, usually dealt with by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice who are part of the federal government.12 The definition of a civil right is “an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action or injury.”13 Civil rights is the dealing of discrimination of someone’s race, sex, religion, and other instances. Here specifically, we are dealing with discrimination against someone’s national origin. According to the federal government, having a driver’s license is more of a privilege than a right.14 By this definition, not granting someone a driver’s license because of where they were born is against the law. Yet, most states still do not allow undocumented immigrants a license. This is racial discrimination except masked by the “being undocumented” aspect.15 A case where this type of discrimination occured is in Rababah v. DMV, when the DMV did not allow Jordan Rababah to take a driving test because of race and national origin.16 The commission ruled in Mr. Rababah’s favor because it was clear that the DMV did discriminate against him due to how he looked, which violated his civil rights as a human being. People have a problem accepting this bill because they believe that undocumented immigrants should not be able to take part in anything that would imply they are a citizen of the U.S., such as getting a license. This bill is difficult to pass because people are discriminating against where someone was born, except this is illegal (set by previos precedents as the one discussed above), yet many do not see it that way.
According to the legal perspective presented above, whether this bill should pass is not a debate at all. Everyone should be able to get their driver’s license if they can pass the test. Someone’s national origin should not stop them from being able to drive without fear of being deported. It should be illegal to stop someone from getting their driver’s license just because they are undocumented. This goes against multiple of their Human and Civil rights.
References
1 “States (and DC) That Allow Undocumented Immigrants to Obtain Driver’s Licenses,” ProCon, July 26, 2021, https://immigration.procon.org/states-and-dc-that-allow-drivers-licenses-for-people-in-the-country-illegally/.
2 “Massachusetts Identification (ID) Requirements,” Mass.Gov, accessed March 5, 2022, https://www.mass.gov/guides/massachusetts-identification-id-requirements.
3 Ibid.
4 The Borgen Project. “Examples of Human Rights Violations,” November 21, 2019. https://borgenproject.org/examples-of-human-rights-violations/.
5 United Nations. “Human Rights.” United Nations. United Nations. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights.
6 United Nations General Assembly, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Resolution 217 A § Article 13 (1948), https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.
7 Encyclopedia.com. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 13-15,” December 10, 1948. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/universal-declaration-human-rights-articles-13-15.
8 Ibid.
9 United Nations General Assembly, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Resolution 217 A § Article 5 (1948), https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.
10 “Driver’s Licenses and Unauthorized Immigrants,” accessed March 6, 2022, http://crfimmigrationed.org/stuff/drivers-licenses-and-immigrants/126-5-r-article.
11 Boston Herald. “Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Immigrants Bill Clears First Major Hurdle,” February 17, 2022. https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/02/16/drivers-licenses-for-illegal-immigrants-bill-clears-first-major-hurdle/.
12 The U.S. Department of Justice. “Civil Rights Division,” March 2, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/crt.
13 “Civil Rights,” LII / Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed March 5, 2022, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/civil_rights.
14 DriversEd.com. “Helpful Driving Info | Driving Is a Privilege, Not a Right.” Accessed March 22, 2022. https://driversed.com/driving-information/the-driving-privilege/driving-is-a-privilege-not-a-right/.
15 Kevin R Johnson, “Driver’s Licenses and Undocumented Immigrants: The Future of Civil Rights Law?,” Nevada Law Journal 5 (2004): 216.
16 Spence, Katherine. “Rababah v. DMV.” Investigative Report. Vermont, December 3, 2015.