Task force: Give driving privileges to undocumented residents

 (AP Photo/LM Otero)

(AP Photo/LM Otero)

A new report calls for undocumented Delaware residents to be given the equivalent of a drivers license.

“Delaware should implement a system that enables undocumented residents to drive lawfully,” according to a report issued this week by the Undocumented Motorists Safety and Insurance Task Force.

The report urges the General Assembly to approve legislation that would allow undocumented residents to buy insurance and get a license to drive after passing the proper driving tests.

“The Undocumented Driver Task Force was established to discuss a very real modern problem of safety and equality,” said DMV director Jennifer Cohan. “The work of all the members has led to reasonable recommendations.”

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Those recommendations would require undocumented drivers to submit two years of state tax returns as a way of establishing Delaware as their state of residence before they could get their driving privileges. The proposal would also insure that the state would not use information gathered for the driving-privilege card for any other purpose, unless that information posed a potential threat to public safety.

The task force was co-chaired by state Senator Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, who supports the recommendations. “Certain logistics would still need to be sorted out, but there is no doubt that Delaware can and should adopt a system that enables undocumented Delawareans to drive lawfully, more safely and with insurance.” 

You can read the entire task force report below.

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