Editor’s note: Quotes in this article, except for those of Father Mario Castagnola and Jason Adkins, were originally delivered in Spanish and were translated by the writer.
Every day except for Sunday, Joel Alvaro leaves his wife and three children at their home in Sauk Rapids, gets in his Ford F-150 truck, and commutes 15 minutes to his job on a farm.
It is a scene that is repeated every morning in millions of households in the country — but for Alvaro, one traffic stop on his commute could prevent him from ever returning to his family.
Alvaro is among the roughly 81,000 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota — according to the Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that researches immigration statistics in the United States — who are eligible for a driver’s license as of Oct. 1. Under HF4, also known as “Driver’s Licenses for All,” which was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz on March 7, an applicant’s proof of citizenship will not be required to obtain a driver’s license in Minnesota.
For some, including Alvaro, a 31-year-old Catholic, this law is life-changing.
“If I never drove, it would be for the best,” he said. “I go out with fear. But it is necessary.” He said he plans to get a license as soon as he is able.
The Catholic Spirit spoke with Alvaro and other undocumented immigrants who say this law will change everything from how their children get to school in the morning to how safe they feel in Minnesota.
The substance of the law
“Driver’s Licenses for All” reverses a 2003 policy, which required those applying for a driver’s license to present their Social Security card, U.S. passport, or birth certificate, along with other accepted documents, to prove their citizenship. By vetting their citizenship in the application process, driver’s licenses could then be used as a federal form of identification.
“Prior to 2003, a driver’s license was nothing more than a statement of the ability to drive,” said Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega (DFL-St. Paul) during a Jan. 30 Minnesota House floor debate. “During a national push to stoke anti-immigrant fear, (this) policy was implemented to take licenses away from workers and familias against the best advice of community leadership,” she said.
House Republicans argued against the legislation.
“This is going to completely overwhelm our system,” said Assistant Minority Leader Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove), in reference to the long wait times to schedule a driver’s test.
Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Acton Township), said the law could lead to illegal immigrants intentionally or accidentally voting. His motion to change the orientation and to add a “not for voting purposes” marking to the card did not pass the House vote.
“The possibility does exist that there could be abuse,” Urdahl said.
Despite these concerns, the law is now in effect.
The Department of Motor Vehicles is no longer allowed to ask about one’s immigration status. A wider range of documents are accepted as proof of identity, such as a foreign birth certificate or foreign passport, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The law will result in several different classifications of licenses. The class D license, which undocumented immigrants can apply for, will have no indication of immigration status and will be the same color and have the same markings as a regular driver’s license.
Minnesota residents who are citizens may elect to choose an enhanced or Real ID license. Real ID or enhanced ID will become required for domestic air travel and entering federal facilities and military bases starting May 7, 2025.
Secular and episcopal support
Minnesota is not the first state to enact such a law. Eighteen other states, as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., have enacted similar laws, although about half of them require markings that distinguish them from regular driver’s licenses in their state.
Catholic leaders from across the state have voiced their support of the law.
“Minnesota needs to act now to limit the threat that a traffic stop will upend lives and families of our friends and neighbors,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said in 2021 testimony to the Minnesota House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. “Our immigrant brothers and sisters deserve to live with dignity, not in fear of being separated from their families every time they need to drive somewhere.”
The St. Paul-based Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, which offers resources for immigrants in Minnesota and advocates for pro-immigrant legislation, stated that the law promotes public safety by making sure drivers know traffic laws by way of a written test and driving test. The center also cited a 9% decrease in hit-and-runs in Connecticut and a 7-10% decrease in California, where similar laws have been passed.
As the associate pastor of Risen Savior in Burnsville, Father Mario Castagnola is in touch with the Hispanic community in the Twin Cities. He serves around 500 Hispanics, many of whom he says are enthused about the new legislation.
“Many people are already taking (driving) lessons,” he said. “There is a lot of expectation among our community.”
St. Paul-based Minnesota Catholic Conference, which represents the public policy interests of the state’s Catholic bishops, was outspoken in its support for the law.
Jason Adkins, the organization’s executive director and general counsel, said the immigration system in the U.S. is “broken.”
“We can take positive steps to give our undocumented brothers a measure of security by giving them access to health insurance, but also by making available driver’s licenses,” Adkins wrote in an Oct. 9 email. “The legislation seeks to keep families together, and it makes it easier for immigrants to go to work, church, and school, without the anxiety of being separated from families for minor traffic violations.”
Persistent fear of deportation
Alicia, 54, who did not share her last name out of concern for the safety of her family, came to Minnesota from Peru on a tourist visa in 2006 and stayed after it expired. She now supports her three children, two cats, and a dog named Gordito in a small house in Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood, by providing childcare around the Twin Cities.
“You have to pray to God and drive,” said Alicia, who often takes a bus or Uber to work but drives when necessary. “The fear that I feel is that if the police will stop me, they will put me in immigration … It’s just my children and I, and sometimes their father. So, if something happened to me, who would continue to care for my children? That is the fear.”
Alicia is Catholic but often does not attend Mass on Sundays due to being unable to find transportation and being too scared to drive herself.
“It is a very long process, and very expensive, but I am going to try,” she said regarding the path to citizenship. She hopes to become a citizen and apply for an enhanced driver’s license so that she can travel back to Peru to visit family, whom she has not seen in 17 years.
“It is sad, the life of immigrants,” she said. “They do not go back to see their families.”
Francisco Rojas, 21, drives daily to his job at Goodwill and to dance salsa, merengue, and bachata at various studios. He pulls over whenever he sees a police officer.
Like Alicia, Rojas overstayed a tourist visa when he came to Minneapolis from Colombia in 2019 at age 18, after he finished high school in Colombia, to stay with his sister. He hasn’t decided if he will apply for a license yet because he is worried that the information he provides to the DMV in the application process could be used against him.
“For those who don’t have papers, what will guarantee that (the DMV) won’t give those facts to the people from immigration and use them against you?” he said. “You never know what kind of person will be working for these organizations.”
Francisco Corrales, 31, came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2019 to join his cousins, who are farmworkers in rural Minnesota. He now works at six ranches in and out of Minnesota — a job that requires him to drive up to 16 hours to arrive at his job site. Corrales said the license will help him feel safer on the roads.
He has applied for a license but failed the written test Oct. 4.
“Some of the questions left me very confused and I did not pass,” he said. “I’m going to have to make another appointment and see how it goes. I will review the questions a little more.”
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The following information, along with that of the infographic, was compiled using information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Q) Can undocumented immigrants register to vote with their Minnesota driver’s license?
A) No, this is a federal crime and a deportable offense.
Q) Will a license for an undocumented immigrant look different in any way from a citizen’s license?
A) No, the class D driver’s license will not have any indication of immigration status. But undocumented immigrants will not be able to receive an enhanced license.
Q) Why does this make illegal immigrants feel safer? Can’t they still be deported?
A) Yes, possession of a Minnesota driver’s license does not prevent deportation if, for instance, an illegal immigrant commits a felony. If an immigrant is pulled over and is found to not have a license, he or she would face the penalties of driving without a license and the officer could decide to have immigration investigate their case. However, if an immigrant is pulled over and has a class D license, they will only be responsible for the traffic law they violated, rather than the charge of driving without a license.
Q) Between now and May 2025 — when Real ID becomes mandated for federal identification — couldn’t immigrants use this license for domestic travel or to enter military bases?
A) Yes, it is possible that someone could attempt that before May 2025 if he or she applied and received a class D license. However, Elliot Morgan Parsonage Law Firm — a North Carolina-based firm that specializes in immigration law — said that it is unlikely that immigrants would do so due to the risk of being apprehended.
Types of IDs in Minnesota
Class D identification card
- Can be obtained at any age for travel and identification purposes
- Does not indicate the ability to drive
- Proof of citizenship is not required
- Will not serve as federal identification after May 7, 2025
Class D driver’s license
- Must be at least 16 to obtain
- Indicates the ability to drive
- Proof of citizenship is not required
- Will not serve as federal identification after May 7, 2025
Enhanced ID
- Can be obtained at any age for travel and identification purposes
- Does not indicate the ability to drive
- Proof of citizenship is required
- Will serve as federal identification after May 7, 2025
- Will serve to cross borders into Mexico and Canada
Enhanced driver’s license
- Must be 16
- Indicates the ability to drive
- Proof of citizenship is required
- Can be used for domestic travel after May 7, 2025
- Will serve to cross borders into Mexico and Canada
Real ID
- Does not indicate the ability to drive
- Requires proof of citizenship or proof that an individual is lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence, has conditional permanent resident status, or has an approved application for asylum
- Can be used for domestic travel after May 7, 2025
- Cannot be used for any international travel
Read ID driver’s license
- Indicates the ability to drive
- Requires proof of citizenship or proof that an individual is lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence, has conditional permanent resident status, or has an approved application for asylum
- Can be used for domestic travel after May 7, 2025
- Cannot be used for any international travel
