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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Advocates gathered at the State House Wednesday to ask lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to hold legal driver's licenses.
The bill is currently in committee in the state legislature—H 3012 in the House, S 2061 in the Senate. Those pushing for its passage say it would make driving safer for everyone, forcing everyone behind the wheel get insurance, for example.
Detractors of the bill say those here illegally shouldn't have access to the benefits of citizenship, and that licenses are for those here legally.
At an afternoon press conference, the children of undocumented immigrants voiced their support of the bill. They told of their fears that a minor traffic infraction might mean their parents don't get to come home.
Many of the children wrote letters to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, asking that the bill be passed.
Saban, nine years old, lives in East Boston. He gave the first speech of his life, written himself in pencil on wide-rule notebook paper.
"Lots of kids can't go out with their family, because they are terrified of getting stopped from the police," he said. "Lots of kids are afraid of their parents being deported. I don't want to see my friends suffer, because I don't want their family to get deported. I want them to be a united family."
He told WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal he's worried about his mother.
"I don't know if she's gonna come back safe, and I don't know if we're gonna stay alone," she said. "I don't want her to be in the police, because she's a good woman and I don't want her to get in the police for nothing, only 'cause she doesn't have a license."
A similar law granting licenses to undocumented immigrants was passed in New Jersey on Tuesday.
WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports
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