Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expects driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants to be a top legislative priority this fall, further expanding supports for folks she argues are “going to be absolutely essential as we think about the future.”
Whitmer discussed the Drive SAFE bill package pending in the Michigan legislature, as well as other issues, in a telephone interview after the “Governor’s office reached out to EL CENTRAL … in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month,” Planet Detroit reports.
Estefania Arellano-Bermudez, a writer for EL CENTRAL and Planet Detroit, asked Whitmer for an update on a Drive SAFE bill introduced by Democrats last year to reverse laws approved in 2008 that prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
MORE NEWS: Gretchen Whitmer claims she’s ‘keeping energy costs low’ but Michigan is 10th highest in U.S.
The Michigan League of Public Policy estimates the legislation, if passed and signed into law, could open the door to 55,000 more people obtaining driver’s licenses in the first three years after it’s approved.
“I do think that the drive safe bill is one that is working its way through the legislature,” Whitmer told EL CENTRAL. “It is really, I believe, crucial that people have the ability to access an identification from the state.
“And so this is something that as the legislature returns this fall, I anticipate it could be on the list of actions that they may take before the end of the year,” Whitmer said.
The driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants are one of several “really important” benefits Whitmer told Meet the Press in August “should be part of any vision of the country.”
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
Meet the Press host Kristen Welker noted Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “signed into law initiatives allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses, qualify for free tuition at public universities, and enroll in the state’s free health care program for low income residents.”
“Would you like to see the Harris administration adopt those same policies, governor?” Welker questioned.
“We need to make sure that when people are in this country, that they have access to have some form of ID. That’s really important,” Whitmer said. “The spirit of those things, I think, should be part of any vision of the country and our security and how we bring great people into this country legally.”
Since February 2023, House bills 4410-4412 and Senate bills 265-267, known collective as the Drive SAFE bill package, have languished in committees with no movement, despite assurances from the Democratic majority that the legislation is a top priority.
Between 1995 and 2008, an opinion from Democratic Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley allowed illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. That changed when Republican Attorney General Mike Cox reversed the guidance.
In the years since, illegal immigrants have worked with Democratic activists to elect lawmakers who will change the law.
Last year, Forge Organizing credited their efforts for moving the state House to a one-seat majority for Democrats for the first time in four decades.
“The electoral organizing of undocumented Michiganders tipped the scale of power in the 38th and 103rd districts, providing Democrats with a slim, one-seat majority in the House, flipping the seats that flipped the legislature,” according to the nonprofit.
Despite multiple press conferences and rallies in Lansing with key Democrats professing support, the Drive SAFE legislation has so far failed to gain traction.
Republicans, meanwhile, attempted during the last budget cycle to amend state programs to ensure tax dollars do not flow to folks in the country illegally, but Democrats with majorities in both chambers blocked the proposals.
“This isn’t about politics; it’s about responsible governance,” said Rep. William Bruck, R-Erie. “Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit legal residents of our state, not those who have entered the country unlawfully. That’s something we should all be able to agree on.”
The Drive SAFE legislation is one of numerous ways the Whitmer administration working to remake Michigan as “the state of choice for many newcomer population,” an effort aimed at countering the state’s projected population decline.
Whitmer in July approved $1 million to cover legal services for “asylum seekers,” despite data that shows 97% in 2023 involved defensive asylum claims filed by illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.
Another program approved by Whitmer and aligned Democrats last year spent $738,000 to “support newcomer integration” through grants to “ethnic and community based organizations” that cater to immigrants.
Democrats have also approved $500 per month “Newcomer Rental Subsidies” for “individuals with a pending asylum application,” despite strong objections from Republicans who raised issues with lax eligibility requirements and exemptions.
The supports for Michigan’s “newcomers” stand in contrast to a record $82.5 billion 2025 state budget approved by Whitmer this summer that cut more than $300 million from student safety and mental health programs, and included more than $330 million in pet projects for lawmakers.
About 41% of Michigan’s residents, meanwhile, are living paycheck to paycheck, unable to afford a “survival budget” that includes basics like housing, child care, food, transportation and health care, despite most working full-time.
Data from the American Immigration Council suggests Michigan’s efforts to court immigrants is working.
Between 2012-2022, Michigan’s total population increased 1.5%, while the immigrant population swelled by 57.7%, totaling 687,000 in 2022, including 102,700 illegal immigrants, according to the council.
Some of those folks are bad hombres.
Over the last couple of years, two illegal immigrants have been convicted of gruesome murders in Grand Rapids, while others have been arrested for soliciting sex from minors in Shiawassee County, sexual conduct with a 15-year-old Livingston County girl, multiple sex assaults in Ann Arbor, a fatal hit-and-run in Grand Rapids, breaking into a home in Sturgis to molest two girls under the age of 13, and other crimes.
In June, Shelby Township police say an illegal immigrant, identified as 33-year-old Jose Medina-Hernandez, driving a box truck on M-59 “rear ended a Buick Verano which triggered a chain reaction involving two other vehicles.”
The Buick occupants, 88-year-old Nancy Richmond and 63-year-old Crystal Brunn, were killed in the crash, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido. Brunn was Richmond’s daughter.