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2023-07-09 14:50:40
Certain classes of driver’s licenses from five states, including three in New England, are no longer valid in Florida under a new immigration law.
The bill prohibits the issuance of a driver’s license to anyone who does not provide proof of legal presence in the US and specifies that out-of-state driver’s licenses issued exclusively to undocumented immigrants are not valid in Florida.
Anyone presenting an invalid out-of-state driver’s license at a traffic stop can receive a citation. The new law affects some drivers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The crackdown on out-of-state licenses is part of broader immigration legislation signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that went into effect July 1.
“Someone who is in our country illegally and has violated our laws should not possess a government-issued ID that allows them to access state-funded services and other privileges granted to legal residents,” DeSantis said in a statement.
Advocates have long argued that providing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants increases public safety.
“The truth of the matter is that people come and go from work to home,” Werner Oyanadel, executive director of the Connecticut Commission on Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs, said in 2014 when the state opened applications for licenses to undocumented immigrants. He said the difference under the new law would be that those drivers are properly trained. Like other drivers, they must register their vehicles and show that they have taken out insurance.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles published a list of out-of-state license classes that are not valid in Florida:
Connecticut licenses indicating “Not for Federal Identification” Delaware licenses indicating “Driving Privilege Only” or “Not Valid for Identification” Hawaii licenses indicating “Limited Purpose Driver’s License” or “Limited Purpose Instruction Permit” ” or “Limited Purpose Provisional Driver’s License” or “Not Valid for Official Federal Use” Rhode Island licenses marked “Not for Federal ID” or “Driving Privilege Card” or “Driving Privilege Permit” Vermont licenses showing “Non-REAL ID Driver Privilege Card” or “Non-REAL ID Junior Driver Privilege Card” or “Non-REAL ID Learner Privilege Card”
About 20 states offer driver’s licenses to people who are in the country without immigration authorization; Massachusetts opened applications on July 1.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a statement this week that the list of invalidated licenses was subject to change.
The bill, SB 1718, also requires private businesses with more than 25 employees to use E-Verify, an online employment verification system, to demonstrate that workers meet employment eligibility standards. Penalties will apply to employers who knowingly have undocumented immigrants working for them, and the severity will depend on how many undocumented immigrants have been employed.
In addition, Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid will be required to document whether or not a patient is a United States citizen, and whether or not the patient is an undocumented immigrant.
However, neither citizenship nor legal status will affect your medical care, and undocumented patients will not be reported to immigration authorities.
Critics have said the new immigration legislation is among the toughest state laws in the country and makes life more difficult for Florida’s approximately 775,000 undocumented immigrants.
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