Immigrant rights activists are trying to get the state to issue driver's cards for undocumented immigrants. That's despite the fact that the item was removed from the state budget, recently passed by the Senate. WUWM's Ann-Elise Henzl reports.
The biennial budget bill approved by the state Assembly included a provision to create the driver's cards. They would serve as limited purpose driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, and for legal immigrants who can't provide proof of their legal status.
The state Senate removed the measure from its budget. Some law officers are among the supporters of the driver's cards.
Shorewood Police Chief David Banaszynski says they would put more safe drivers on the street.
"They have to pass the driving skills test, they have to have the written test, they have to have the eyesight exams, so to me those people are safer because at least we have some identification on them, we have some idea of who they are, they passed all the driving tests that we require of anybody else in the state," Banaszynski says.
The immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera and others filled the state Capitol Monday, urging lawmakers to support the drivers' cards.
"This is not an immigration issue, it's the job of the federal government -- that's their job. It is the job of the state government to ensure safety on our public roads."
Christine Neumann Ortiz is particularly upset with Democratic state Sen. Tim Carpenter from Milwaukee. His constituency is heavily Latino, and he was one of the people who pulled the driver's cards from the Senate's budget.
"We call on the Democratic Party leadership and Sen. Carpenter to lead, to not cater to the politics of division and hate that have been a blight in the chapters of American history against different ethnic and racial groups at different times, and to represent the best of Wisconsin's progressive tradition and fight for public safety and the principles of equality," Neumann Ortiz says.
Sen. Carpenter did not return our call asking for a comment. However, in a written statement he said 90 percent of his constituents who've contacted his office are opposed to giving driving privileges to people who can't prove they're in the country legally. Carpenter says he's also concerned because the Joint Finance Committee inserted the proposal into the budget, without allowing testimony from interested parties, such as law enforcement.
Shorewood Police Chief Banaszynski says while he sees advantages of the driver's cards, not all of his peers do. Banaszynski is the president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association. He says a number of its members think the driver's cards could lead to fraud among people who receive the cards.
"They think that they're going to get this driver's card using false identification and once they have this drivers card -- even though it says it's only good for driver's card not for other identification -- that they'll be able to get other types of identification, other credit cards or things, and be able to defraud the system," Banaszynski says.
Banaszynski says chiefs of police are split about 50-50 on the issue. So instead of endorsing or opposing the driver's cards, the Chiefs of Police Association will encourage its members to make up their own minds, and contact lawmakers directly.
The driver's card proposal may come up for discussion among lawmakers this week, as they're expected to meet in committee to resolve differences between the Senate and Assembly versions of the budget.
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