Before Christmas, I let you know that the Illinois Senate had passed legislation granting temporary driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. I’m glad to report that earlier this week the Illinois House followed suit and the bill is on its way to Governor Pat Quinn, who has indicated he will sign it into law. My thanks to those of you who have taken action on this issue.
Although Illinois is an encouraging victory, some states are still choosing to limit the opportunities of certain immigrants. Iowa recently joined Arizona, Michigan, and Nebraska in refusing to grant driver’s licenses to immigrants receiving deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA). California, on the other hand, has chosen to grant DACA recipients driver’s licenses.
Remind your governor that we need state policies supporting immigrants by visiting the LIRS Action Center today! Thank you for acting now, and please look for these alerts on state-level issues every Thursday.