In testimony Jan. 10 to members of the Minnesota Legislature, Bishop Donald Kettler added his voice to those supporting a bill to legalize driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants in Minnesota.
“Recognizing their dignity as a human being and their right to receive basic human family and community opportunities calls me to support the need for a class D driver’s license,” Bishop Kettler said during his testimony.
The bishop testified via Zoom at a meeting of the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee to express the support of Minnesota’s Catholic bishops for House File 4.
The bill would establish a “noncompliant” driver’s license allowing non-citizen immigrants to obtain a driver’s license requiring them to learn the rules of the road, pass a test, and provide identification before driving on Minnesota roads, all of which promotes public safety, according to the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in the state. The license could nt be used for voting or other privileges of citizenship.
The committee approved the bill on a voice vote. It now advances to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee.