Can undocumented immigrants get a drivers license in wisconsin

A driver’s license without having a Green Card is possible in some states.

State-issued driver’s licenses serve as proof of the right of drivers to operate vehicles. Driver’s licenses are required documents. Drivers can be issued expensive traffic tickets if driving without them.

Driver’s licenses are also used as official identification cards. IDs are necessary on various occasions like, for example, when applying for a job or when opening a bank account.

License requirements will vary from state-to-state. Most states do not issue driver’s licenses unless an applicant is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. U.S. Citizens can present their certificate of citizenship or naturalization as proof of identity when applying while permanent residents can show their Green Cards as proof. If a permanent resident has lost the Green Card it can be replaced.

Some states allow licensed drivers from other countries to drive legally for a year.

There are a handful of states that issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants:

  • Washington State
  • New Mexico
  • Utah (Not a driver’s license. Only a driving permit.)
  • Illinois

These states choose to provide undocumented immigrants with the right to drive legally because of safety issues. To get a driver’s license, applicants have to learn the rules of the roadways, pass driving tests, and before they start driving, get car insurance. Without driver’s licenses, undocumented immigrants drive without acquiring the proper knowledge and without insurance, and this makes the roads less safe for all drivers.

Most states continue to deny driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. However, the recent program of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, might be available to some undocumented immigrants. Those granted DACA might be able to get driver’s licenses from the state they reside in.

DACA went into effect in August of 2012. This policy helps young undocumented immigrants who entered the country before the age of 16. The application process requires the submission of various documents to prove eligibility. These are the eligibility requirements:

  • Younger than 31 as of June 15, 2012
  • Came to the U.S. before turning 16 years old
  • Living in the U.S. without travel interruptions since June 15, 2007, up to the present time
  • Currently in school, have graduated, have a certificate of completion or GED
  • A clean criminal record without a conviction of a felony, significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors

DACA is still a relatively new policy. Only 38 states have thus far declared they will officially grant driver’s licenses to DACA recipients. The four states mentioned above are not included in the list below since they already grant undocumented immigrant driving privileges.

The following states have approved driver’s licenses through DACA:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Washington D.C.
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin

When applying for a driver’s license, proof of DACA will be required. DACA recipients receive work authorization and this is a document that would qualify as proof.

Two states have officially banned the issuing of driver’s licenses for DACA recipients:

  • Arizona
  • Nebraska

Advocates rarely call for immigrants living in the U.S. to be immediately given citizen status, but rather allow all those living in the U.S. a path to citizenship free of fear of deportation.

“Immigration reform can help the Wisconsin economy at a time when the demographics of an aging society are chipping away at the state’s workforce, from its kitchens, farms and resorts to its research laboratories and tech companies,” Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, wrote in a newspaper editorial published in 2013.

One of the barriers keeping undocumented immigrants from working, and thus filling gaps in the ongoing labor shortage, is that it is illegal for them to have a driver’s license in most states, including Wisconsin. As such, there are more legal barriers to working in many industries that are hurting for workers, such as construction or in supply chains.

People are also reading…

Approximately 30% of American jobs require driving, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And so, it is effectively impossible for undocumented immigrants — even if they are on a path to citizenship — to fill approximately 30% of the country’s open jobs.

Truckers, who obviously need to be able to legally drive, are among the most desired workers in the country right now because of their essentiality in the supply chain. Reports over the course of the past three years point to the shortage being somewhere between 55,000 and 80,000 truckers nationwide.

Drivers License Expansion

Immigrant rights advocates rally outside the Oregon state Capitol in favor of a measure that would expand driver's license access to undocumented immigrants on March 26, 2019, in Salem, Ore.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz

Neumann-Ortiz

“The absence of driver’s licenses for undocumented workers at the state level impacts the construction industry,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, a Milwaukee-based advocacy nonprofit focused on workers rights and immigration issues.

Unlike many service jobs, construction workers need to travel from one job site to the next on a daily basis. If someone’s transport is not flexible, working in construction is nearly impossible.

Last month, HousingWire.com reported that the “construction worker shortage has reached ‘crisis’ levels with there being currently 300,000 to 400,000 open construction positions on a monthly basis,” citing data from the Home Builders Institute.

There are approximately 32,000 people living in Wisconsin who cannot get a driver’s license and 28,000 Wisconsin drivers without car insurance because they are undocumented, notes a 2018 report from Kids Forward, a liberal-leaning research organization.

Gov. Tony Evers has proposed allowing undocumented people living in Wisconsin to get driver’s licenses, but the Republican-controlled Legislature has not allowed it. Among their concerns are that allowing non-citizens to get driver’s licenses would make it easier for them to vote illegally, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in 2014.

Watch now: Bystanders looked on in horror as car plowed through Waukesha parade (Warning: graphic content)

BREAKING: First video of a red Ford Escape breaking through barriers after mowing down parade goers and firing rifle into crowd in Waukesha, WI pic.twitter.com/QHDi2fsKDz

— David Kimball (@wxandnews) November 21, 2021

This was recorded from the City of Waukesha’s Facebook account, which was streaming the parade.

You can see a red SUV speed right past these band members, hear screams and then a law enforcement officer running. @fox6now pic.twitter.com/8lO5oRuP1I

— Sam Kraemer (@SamKraemerTV) November 21, 2021

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.

Can an illegal immigrant get a driver's license in Wisconsin?

Under Act 126, undocumented immigrants and people who do not have a social security number can no longer renew or obtain a driver's license or state identification. Since then, the struggle to restore state driver licenses and state IDs for immigrants has been an ongoing struggle in Wisconsin and nationally.

Can undocumented immigrants get a driver's license?

This law authorizes the issuance of drivers licenses to applicants even if they cannot provide proof of lawful presence or if they are uneligible for a social security number. This law creates a standard driver's license or identification that does not require proof of lawful presence.

Can non citizens get a driver's license in Wisconsin?

Why does Wisconsin need the Driver Card? In May 2005 the U.S. Congress passed the REAL ID Act, requiring all states to check immigration status before issuing a driver's licenses or state ID, and to only issue driver's licenses to persons who are US citizens or have legal status.

Which states give driver's license to illegal immigrants?

State laws permitting this are on the books in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, Massachusetts New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.