Democrats continue to prove that their party prioritizes the interests of everyone else over those of American citizens.
In Minnesota, the Democrat-run Senate has now advanced a bill by a 34-31 vote that would give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens by abolishing the state’s current legal residency requirement.
“Some politicians were given the opportunity to do the right thing for over 15 years. And time and time again, they didn’t bring their votes,” said Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos Minnesota, which supports the legislation. “But today’s a different day. We’re getting the work done.”
The bill was carried in by Senators Zaynab Mohamed, Bobby Joe Champion, Scott Dibble, Alice Mann, and Nick Frentz.
The legislation removes a 2003 rule implemented by then-Governor Tim Pawlenty that required applicants for driver’s licenses to show proof of legal residency, such as a Social Security Number.
Opponents of this rule have been trying to get rid of it for decades to no avail. But the movement gained fresh energy this year with a slew of candidates from Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party supporting “Driver’s Licenses for All.”
In January, the Minnesota House voted 69-60 to approve their version of the legislation.
The Sanhan Journal noted of the debate surrounding the Senate bill:
During the Senate’s heated discussion, critics of the bill raised concerns about national security. For example, driver’s licenses can be used to board domestic flights. Senate Republicans proposed an amendment to the bill Tuesday that would require Driver’s Licenses For All to be implemented after REAL ID goes into effect in May 2025. REAL ID’s will be required to board domestic flights and enter some federal facilities after May 2025.
Proponents of the amendment purport that REAL ID identity verification will keep undocumented people from taking domestic flights, especially if they pose a national security threat.
The amendment was struck down.
Another amendment that failed to be adopted was one that would require the licenses of illegal alien drivers to be marked so as to indicate that the license is for driving purposes only and cannot be used for voter registration.
But Senator Champion said that amendment would allow for discrimination and would be unnecessary because there are already procedures in place to verify someone’s citizenship when they register to vote.
Additionally, Democrats’ bill would add data protections so that law-enforcement officers who review a driver’s license during a traffic stop cannot access the driver’s immigration data. Moreover, federal immigration authorities such as ICE would be prevented from accessing immigration information via driver’s licenses unless they have a warrant.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, has said he will sign the “Driver’s Licenses for All” legislation if it is sent to his desk.
Thus far, 18 states, the territory of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia allow illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. This includes California, where over a million illegal aliens have obtained them since the policy was adopted in 2016.
The direction being taken by Minnesota and other left-leaning states is different than the approach in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing a hard-line program intended to significantly reduce the number of illegal aliens in the state.
In a plan unveiled in Jacksonville, the Republican governor blasted the Biden administration’s “reckless federal open border policies” and presented a list of proposed policies that would increase human-smuggling penalties, impose mandatory E-Verify, and ban counties from giving driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
Under DeSantis’ plan, which he is calling on the Florida Legislature to adopt in the upcoming legislative session, it would be a third-degree felony to knowingly conceal, harbor, or transport an illegal alien. If the alien is a minor, then the act of smuggling would be bumped up to a second-degree felony.
And under the proposed E-Verify mandate, all Florida employers would be required to prove that their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.
Moreover, the plan would ban illegal aliens from practicing law in Florida, and would require hospitals to gather data and submit reports to state authorities regarding the impact illegal aliens are having on the hospital system and how much they are costing taxpayers.
Democrats’ efforts to let illegal aliens drive ignores important data about the risk this poses to the safety of citizens.
In fiscal year 2022, illegal aliens with more than 17,500 drunk-driving convictions were arrested by ICE. And illegal aliens with more than 8,700 drunk driving charges were arrested by ICE during the same time frame.
But for Democrats, it appears more important to promote feel-good woke policy than to actually protect the lives of American families. And can we be surprised that the state that gave us Representative Ilhan Omar is now the latest to jump on the “Driver’s Licenses for All” bandwagon?
If American politicians don’t serve American citizens firstly and exclusively, then what are we as taxpayers paying them for?
