By Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Gov. Mark Dayton wants to enable undocumented immigrants to get Minnesota driver’s licenses and he wants the Legislature’s Real ID bill to help make that happen, he told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday.

As they stand, both the House and Senate measures to bring Minnesota into compliance with the federal Real ID standards would bar the possibility of the administration creating licenses for people in the country illegally. But Dayton said Democrats, particularly in the Senate, can change that.

“If they want this window of opportunity, they are going to need to create it,” Dayton said in an interview. He made that case very clear to Senate Democrats in a private meeting Tuesday evening.

The issue of driver’s licenses for immigrants without legal permission to be in the country has been a controversial topic in the Legislature for years. Advocates fiercely believe that allowing undocumented immigrants legal access to licenses would make the roads safer for all. Opponents say that illegal immigrants are breaking the law and that granting them licenses would condone their criminal presence.

More than a dozen states allow undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. Despite legislative efforts over the past few years — including passage in the Senate when it was controlled by Democrats — Minnesota is not among them.

Although the House and Senate bills wending their way through the Legislature differ in several respects, neither would allow the governor’s administration to usher in driver’s licenses for non-citizens or legal visa holders, Dayton said.
Smith: Change is unlikely in House

Rep. Dennis Smith, R-Maple Grove, said that prohibition is unlikely to change in the House. He is the key sponsor of the House Real ID bill, which was approved on a 72-58 vote last week.

“Real ID is not about the immigration policy for Minnesota,” Smith said.

In the House, the bill had lopsided partisan support — only four Democrats voted for the House measure and only eight Republicans voted against it.