ST PAUL, Minn — Si se puede!
That was the motto as advocates fighting to allow access to driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status stood in front of a snowy capitol Tuesday.
Until 2003, residents of Minnesota did not have to provide proof of legal residence to get a driver's license. With the help of a DFL majority in the state legislature, advocates hope that will change.
Josue Maldonado, a member of Carpenters Local 68, told a packed press room of the issues he has faced as a father.
In 2012, his son was born with cerebral palsy and is quadriplegic.
“We have to drive from one place to another for his lung therapies and surgeries,” said Maldonado. “I have to tell you, each and every one of us here knows the struggle of going out. We provide services, we build houses. We prepare food with our hands. We take care of our children. We study and make only one very important request. We need to restore the right to have driver's licenses.”
In past legislative sessions, conservatives have said they feared licenses could make it possible for people who don't have citizenship to vote.
But big-name leaders were at the press conference today, including Archbishop Bernard Anthony and Governor Tim Walz.
“This has simply been a cruel policy that did nothing good,” said Walz. “And I think many of us understood that. So now's the time.”
“It felt exciting and you can feel hope from the people, that we really came here for something,” said Irene Ruiz Gomez.
Ruiz Gomez spoke to KARE 11 in Spanish. Daisy Hernandez-Barguiarena, the communications organizer for Unidos MN, translated.
“It’s a question that her kids have always asked her,” said Ruiz Gomez through Hernandez-Barguiarena. “What if they pull you over and you get deported? Who is going to take care of us.”
Ruiz Gomez is currently working toward getting citizenship.
“I want to ask legislators to really pay attention to us because we are a big part of the community,” she said. “And we are here to ask that driver's licenses are restored because we provide so much not only for this country, but also for the state.”
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