ST. PAUL, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz signed a new law that qualifies 80,000 immigrants for driver licenses begining in October. The law makes Minnesta the 18th state to grant licenses to residents regardless of immigration status. Dozens of immigrants and supporters huddled around Walz’s desk for the signing ceremony. Applicants must still pass written and road tests, but they won’t be asked for proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency. Critics in the Legislature, mostly Republicans, worried that the bill would encourage voter fraud. Democrats responded that there hasn’t been a single case in 20 years of a driver license being used for illegal voting.
Earlier: Senate votes to expand driver license eligibility
Genesis in 9/11
The new law reverses a 2003 change by under Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty barring people without legal status from getting driving licenses. Pawlenty acted after the September 11, 2001, aerial attacks by Middle Eastern terrorists on New York and Washington that killed 3,000 people. In signing the new law, Walz, a Democrat, called the old restrictions a punitive iver-reaction. “We’re going to erase 20 years of a bad policy and lift up the dignity of all Minnesota,” he said.