FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
July 3, 2019
Contact: Cayley Winters, 269-601-5834, cayley@progressmichigan.org
Kalamazoo Commissioners Should Adopt Immigrant Driver ID Resolution
Kalamazoo community members call for Kalamazoo City Commission to support undocumented residents’ driver’s licenses
KALAMAZOO – On Monday, members of the Kalamazoo community attended the Kalamazoo City Commission meeting at City Hall demanding the commissioners pass a resolution in support of a policy that would allow Michigan residents to obtain driver’s licenses, regardless of immigration status.
“In the wake of unjust and unsafe mass detention by ICE, reinstating licenses for all in Michigan is one of many steps we can take to protect immigrants in our community,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “Regardless of immigration status, these community members should be respected and given access to driver’s licenses just like everyone else. We see how unjustly our undocumented community members are being treated at the border, but these issues are happening right here in Michigan. By getting a driver’s license, we can ensure that undocumented residents are being kept safe when approached by anyone looking for identification. We stand behind Movimiento Cosecha and immigrant communities who are fighting for driver’s licenses for all and more just and humane immigration policies across the board.”
Led by members of Movimiento Cosecha Kalamazoo, community members facilitated a discussion about accessibility to driver’s licenses to the most vulnerable members of the community. Without driver’s licenses, immigrants in Michigan are more likely to be victims of detention and deportation, have trouble taking their children to seek medical help and will continue to pay needless fines for driving without a license. A policy to re-enact driver’s licenses for all regardless of citizenship status is the right thing to do to ensure safety for immigrants and their families.
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