The Joint Finance Committee will be meeting this Thursday, May 6th to discuss the removal from the state budget of drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.
Voces de la Frontera is calling for an emergency Day of Action in Madison. There will be buses leaving Racine and Milwaukee at 7:00 a.m. with a gathering at the State Capitol at 9:00 a.m. Face masks are required and people are highly encouraged to space out as much as possible.
This issue has been an uphill battle for the last decade and a half in Wisconsin. Prior to the federal Real ID Act, every Wisconsinite could obtain a driver’s license, meaning everyone could safely travel to and from work, take their children to school without the anxiety and fear of being pulled over and handed over to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Not only would driver’s licenses for all make the roads safer, but in cities like Milwaukee, which has declared racism a public health crisis, it would deter our community members from being profiled if pulled over.
As someone whose parents didn’t have driver’s licenses while they lived in the United States I know just how important driver’s licenses for all are.
In 2017, my dad, a self-employed carpet installer and contractor, had a huge installation project in Waukesha. To put food on the table he risked driving his van and tools across county lines, and for a week straight he got pulled over by the same sheriff on his way to work. This caused him great anxiety and ultimately led him and my mom to self-deport in 2018.
We need to defend driver’s licenses for all.
The members of the Joint Finance Committee need to hear from all of us.
For more information and to ride the bus from Milwaukee or Racine click here: https://bit.ly/3t5solJ