Driver's Licenses for All

When everyone who needs to drive has access to a driver’s license, drivers are safer, roads are safer, and immigrants and their families can access what they need to thrive.  

But right now in Minnesota, only individuals who pass the driver’s test and prove legal immigration status are allowed to receive a driver’s license. That means immigrants without immigration status do not have safe, legal access to our shared roads – despite their need to drive in order to access basic goods, employment, education, and healthcare. When driving is necessary, lack of access to a driver’s license puts immigrants at increased risk of stops, arrests, and deportation. 

Driver’s licenses for all isn’t just good for people without immigration status. It’s good for everyone who drives and uses our shared roads. Issuing licenses to immigrants without immigration status has caused up to 10% fewer hit and run accidents in California and Colorado, and it has led to a sharp decline in uninsured drivers in Utah and New Mexico. 

Driver’s licenses for all is even good for people who don’t drive! In Minnesota, annual income would increase an estimated $2,000-6,000 for full-time workers lacking immigration status if permitted to obtain a driver’s license. That means more spending, boosting Minnesota’s economy for all of us. 

What’s good for people without immigration status is good for our shared roads, good for our economy, and good for the health and well-being of more than 37,000 children in Minnesota whose parents lack immigration status. That’s why we’re supporting legislation that would extend access to driver’s licenses to everyone in Minnesota, regardless of immigration status.