Thanks to legislation recently signed into law in Rhode Island, young people like Rodrigo can breathe a little easier. While the Republican-led Congress continues to abdicate its responsibility to pass permanent protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, Rhode Island leaders and advocates helped pass legislation ensuring that driver’s licenses for DACA recipients will remain in place, “regardless of what happens to the program at the federal level,” Gov. Gina Raimondo’s office said.
For Rodrigo, the legislation, cosponsored by state Rep. Shelby Maldonado and Sen. Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey, means some stability. DACA recipients have already paid large fees to renew their protections, passed background checks and driving tests, purchased cars and insurance through their jobs, and to continue trying to rip the ground out from under them, as the Trump administration continues to do, is cruel.
“I am a Dreamer who has done everything the U.S. government has asked me to do, including paying nearly $2,000 in fees, to be able to contribute to my home fully,” Rodrigo, an immigrant rights leader who came to the U.S. from Portugal when he was just ten months old, said. “I am one of the 1,300 DACA recipients that contribute upwards of $61 million to Rhode Island’s annual gross domestic product and embody the promise and spirit of America.”
DACA recipients “have become a vital part of Rhode Island's educational community, business community and culture,” said Maldonado. “They are a key part of Rhode Island's future, and I thank Speaker Nicholas Mattiello for his support and involvement in this issue."
Allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses is also just common sense. When more people have to pass driving tests and purchase car insurance, roads become safer for all. Currently, twelve states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. “This is a commonsense piece of legislation,” Rodrigo said, “that makes all Rhode Islanders safer.”
More common sense would be passing something like the bipartisan DREAM Act so that young immigrants like Rodrigo can keep thriving in the only country they’ve ever known as home. In the absence of leadership from our nation’s leaders, states and localities must keep acting to protect these families. “Because of this legislation,” he said, “regardless of Washington’s dysfunction and cruelty, I will be able to go to the Division of Motor Vehicles to renew the license I’ve earned.”