This May Day, Wisconsin Can Lift up Its Immigrant Families by Restoring Driver Licenses for All

by | May 1, 2023

Home 9 Immigration 9 This May Day, Wisconsin Can Lift up Its Immigrant Families by Restoring Driver Licenses for All ( Page 45 )

For Release: May 1, 2023
Contact: Emily Miota, emiota@kidsforward.org

Days Before ‘A Day without Immigrants’, Lawmakers Move to Strip Driver Licenses from State Budget

On May Day: A Day without Latinx and Immigrants, Wisconsin lawmakers can lift up every family by restoring driver licenses for all. This would help keep families together, increase economic opportunities for working families, ensure safer roads, and boost state revenue.

Immigrant parents and family caregivers without a license currently drive in fear of being stopped and potentially separated from their families. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are approximately 32,000 Wisconsinites who are undocumented and have children. 

“Driver licenses for parents and family caregivers would mean they could pick up their children from school, go to doctor appointments, and buy groceries without fear,” stated Liliana Barrera, Policy & Engagement Coordinator for Kids Forward.

Immigrants with driver licenses will also be in a better position to support their families and contribute to the local economy. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are an estimated 47,000 workers who are undocumented in Wisconsin. Expanding driver licenses to all will allow them to travel to and from jobs more safely. 

Driver licenses had been available to immigrant drivers up until a federal law blocked them in 2007. Since then, states have had to individually work to restore the right to drive to all state residents. Nineteen states, most recently Minnesota, have passed laws that make driver licenses accessible to all eligible residents, regardless of immigration status.

View Restoring Driver Licenses to all Wisconsinites for more.  

Kids Forward inspires action and promotes access to opportunity for every kid, every family, and every community in Wisconsin, notably children and families of color and those furthest from opportunity. We envision a Wisconsin where every child thrives. Using a research- and community-informed approach, we advocate for effective, long-lasting solutions that break down barriers to success for children and families.

Emily Miota
Emily Miota
Learn more about Emily.

Join us to build a Wisconsin where every child and family thrives.

Recent

To Those Who Spoke Up for Injustice, Go Get In Good Trouble

To Those Who Spoke Up for Injustice, Go Get In Good Trouble

For over six months of 2020, we have all experienced the many ways in which life has shifted. Twin pandemics, COVID-19 and the social uprising, have shocked the nation and the world. While trying to find a semblance of normalcy and buckle down for the Fall, we cannot...

“Lift as We Climb” into 2021

In 2020, both our state and our nation face unprecedented challenges, yet the words of educator and activist Mary Mcleoud Bethune articulated almost 100 years ago still resonate, “The progress of the world will call for the best that all of us have to give.” We strive...

Sign up for Emails

Your address helps us identify your legislators and the most relevant messages to send you.