Resolution Supports Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants

Traffic on E. Wells Street. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Back in 2006, the Wisconsin State Legislature made it impossible for undocumented immigrants to receive a state driver’s license.

Wisconsin Act 126 made having a Social Security number a requirement for obtaining a driver’s license. This left undocumented immigrants living across the state without the ability to legally obtain a driver’s license and immigrant advocacy organizations, like Voces de la Frontera, have been seeking a reversal of the law ever since.

Governor Tony Evers included a provision in his most recent biennial budget proposal that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to receive a driver’s license, but it was stripped out by Republican legislators.

A Milwaukee County supervisor has authored a resolution that seeks to use the voice of Milwaukee County government to advocate for an end to this policy. “I wrote this resolution because there are many undocumented families in my district and they have to know that I have their back,” Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez told Urban Milwaukee.

The legislation, if passed by the full board, would instruct the county’s lobbyists to inform state policymakers that the board of supervisors “urges the State of Wisconsin to pass legislation allowing undocumented immigrants the ability to obtain a driver’s license or State ID.”

A campaign organized by Voces, Kids Forward and the Wisconsin Budget Project called “Widen The Road” estimates that there are approximately 32,000 undocumented immigrants in the state that would get a driver’s license if they legally could. Of that group, they estimate 14,000 have children.

“When people talk about immigrant families, they talk about them being an economic engine for the United States,” Martinez said. “Yes, they are, but we need to realize that they are not just that.  Humans are more than the labor they provide to uphold capitalist systems that wish to destroy them when they cannot work. Driver’s licenses are a way for them to live a dignified life, where they will be able to drive, get car insurance, and have a shot at a normal life in society.”

In his resolution, Martinez stated that licenses and IDs would make it easier for the county’s undocumented community to find employment, apply for loans and purchase homes. He also noted that the county faces “increasing levels of vehicle hit and runs, traffic violations, and improper driving principles” and without the ability to purchase car insurance, undocumented immigrants are especially vulnerable to the financial ramifications of an auto accident.

“This nation was intended to be a place where immigrants can flourish, and that includes Black and Brown, no matter how much others try to resist,” Martinez said.

Martinez has three co-sponsors that joined his resolution: Supervisors Ryan Clancy, Willie Johnson, Jr. and Caroline Gómez-Tom. In 2019, a similar resolution was sponsored by then-supervisor Sylvia Ortiz-Velez that requested a reversal of the state’s policy through the budget process or in stand-alone legislation. That resolution was passed by the board with only two votes opposing it, Sup. Patti Logsdon and then supervisor Dan Sebring.