A week-long effort seeks to raise awareness of state House and Senate bills to let undocumented Michigan residents apply for driver's licenses, as was allowed until 2008. This supporter, a program manager at the University of Michigan's Gerald Ford School of Public Policy, posts an 11-tweet personal thread adapted here as a guest commentary.
By Molly Kleinman
Michigan's Drive SAFE bills, which would grant driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, are a cause that safer streets advocates should rally behind. Here’s why.
Granting licenses to undocumented people will make our streets safer for everyone who uses them. First and foremost, licenses help make streets safer for undocumented people and their families. (They do a lot of other things but I'm focusing here on street safety.)
A key principle of mobility justice is that for streets to be truly safe, road users from marginalized groups need to be safe from the threat of state violence. The most common "offense" for which undocumented people are arrested and deported is driving without a license. Advocates estimate it's a factor in 80% of detentions nationally.
Local police arrest them during traffic stops and transfer them to ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], which imprisons and deports them.
Molly Kleinman: "Freedom of movement ... is a crucial piece of the world I'm fighting for."
(Photo: LinkedIn)
Restoring the right to a driver's license removes one of the most common causes of arrest, family separation, and deportation, and would make Michigan streets much safer for our undocumented neighbors.
That would be enough, but the Drive SAFE [Safety, Access, Freedom, Economy] bills would also make streets safer for everyone else. It's in everyone's interest that all drivers on our roads are trained, screened and tested to make sure they're capable of operating a car safely.
I realize it may seem contradictory for someone who ultimately wants fewer cars on the road to say we should give driver's licenses to more people, but it’s really not. On a fundamental level, both are about advocating for freedom of movement. Supporting the right of every person to move freely and safely in order to care for their loved ones and do the things that bring them joy, without being or feeling like a target, is a crucial piece of the world I'm fighting for.
If you live in Michigan, visit Drive Michigan Forward. Call or email your state representatives and tell them you support the Drive SAFE bills.
This is our chance to make our roads safer for everyone and to make Michigan a place where freedom of movement is a right, not a privilege.
► Learn more from the Drive Michigan Forward coalition, which has a petition and lists other actions.
Related today:
Campaign Pushes to Restore Michigan Driver's Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants
