On Tuesday, voters will determine the fate of a much-debated law allowing undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses. Question Four would repeal the “Act Relative to Work & Family Mobility.”
An undocumented licensing bill passed by state Legislature in May was vetoed by outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker. The Legislature then overrode the governor’s veto, establishing the bill as the law of the land.
Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) served as the bill’s sponsor in the senate. A “yes” vote on Question Four will keep the law in place, while a “no” vote will overturn the law.
Crighton said the bill has become tied up in a larger debate about immigration, which has shifted focus away from its true purpose.
“Here in Massachusetts, we have no control over what the federal immigration laws are. But unfortunately, it is a divisive issue. And obviously, the opponents tried to use it as a way to mislead folks about what the bill is actually intended to do,” he said in a telephone interview. “So it’s nothing to do with immigration.”
At its core, the bill creates safer roads for drivers across the state, Crighton said.
“The constituents that I talk to on a regular basis in my district and across the commonwealth believe that we should have the same set of rules for everyone on the road,” he said. “Law enforcement helped us to craft this so it’d be done in the safest possible way. And in other states, we’ve seen great results as far as road safety goes, which leads to less hit and run accidents and less folks that are uninsured or underinsured. This is really about road safety.”
“This has nothing to do with someone’s citizenship, with their voting, with their benefits. It’s only about making sure that our roads are safe. And I’m confident that the Massachusetts residents across the state will come out in support,” Crighton continued.
State Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) voted in support of Gov. Baker’s veto, and said he remains opposed to the bill.
“I don’t think any other country gives driver’s licenses to unregistered people coming into the country. Second, I’ve seen some of the problems that California has had with that, where they would get their driver’s license, and then do payments and insurance, where they would pay the first payment to get the plate and then they don’t pay any of the other quarterly of the insurance,” Wong said. “So they’re really uninsured.”
Wong said voters in his district, which includes parts of Lynn, Saugus, and Wakefield, have expressed to him that they don’t support the law.
“A lot of people have come to me and asked me to vote against the licensing. Not many people have come to me and asked me to vote for the licensing,” he said. “I’m doing what the people in my district want, or have asked me to do.”
