It is a controversial proposal, to be certain. A recent Rasmussen survey even indicates that a majority of voters in the 12 states where undocumented immigrants can currently obtain driver’s licenses oppose giving driver’s licenses to individuals that are in the United States illegally. Despite these findings, California will reach a milestone when it issues a driver’s license to its millionth undocumented immigrant later this year.

In spite of the seeming political peril, Florida lawmakers have good reason to be courageous on this politically-charged issue. According to an analysis by Pew Research Center, South Florida is home to nearly half-a-million undocumented immigrants, making the Miami-Dade-Fort Lauderdale metro-area number 5 nationwide in undocumented immigrant population (undocumented immigrants made up 7.3% of the South Florida population in 2014). These individuals are going to continue to live, work and drive their automobiles in the Sunshine State. Therefore all of Florida, and particularly South Florida, has a significant interest in finding ways to allow this significant undocumented population the opportunity to come out of the shadows and live openly within our society.  Doing so would offer mutual benefit to the undocumented immigrant as well as to the Florida citizen.  Ask yourself this question: Do we really want to go on not knowing who in the world nearly ten percent of our State’s inhabitants are? Of course, the answer is NO, and a simple way to begin this process is by offering undocumented immigrants the opportunity to obtain a Florida driver’s license.

Primarily, the Sunshine State should offer driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants because doing so protects Florida citizens. What, a skeptical Floridian may ask, does give a person without a legal right to be in the U.S. (much less the State of Florida) a driver’s license have to do with protecting Florida’s citizenry?  There are a few obvious reasons Florida citizens stand to gain from this policy.

1. Offering driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants protects citizens. Why? Because offering driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants allow undocumented immigrants to be accounted for by the government. (How can government account for undocumented immigrants if the government is not certain precisely who or how many of their individuals there are in the State?)
2. Giving Florida Driver’s Licenses to undocumented immigrants mitigates the exploitation of undocumented labor and rampant non-payment of Social Security and other taxes by unscrupulous employers.  Offering driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants in Florida allows undocumented individuals to open bank accounts and makes it so the employer must pay Social Security and other taxes. Additionally, as undocumented individuals come out of the shadows, they will also need to pay their fair share of taxes in the same manner as an individual who is legally here. Again, in my experience, it is rarely the case that undocumented individuals want to continue to live in the shadows.  On the contrary, it is Florida’s approach towards these undocumented individuals that encourages undocumented individuals to seek the shadows of society.
3. Offering driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants allows the undocumented immigrant to obtain liability insurance on their vehicle. Understand that if an undocumented immigrant cannot obtain a driver’s license, that immigrant cannot obtain automobile liability insurance.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen an auto accident in South Florida where the responsible party is an undocumented immigrant who cannot obtain a Florida driver’s license and thus, cannot obtain auto insurance in the form of Bodily Injury (BI Coverage).  In these instances, it is the injured Florida Citizen who is completely out of luck unless they have had the foresight to purchase Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist (UM) Protection as part of their auto insurance policy. This is probably one of the most obvious ways that giving undocumented immigrants a driver’s license in Florida will protect the Florida citizenry.

At the end of the day, whether or not you agree with this modest proposal, realize that there are thousands upon thousands of undocumented immigrants among us in the Sunshine State living, working, driving, and going to school in South Florida. These undocumented individuals live in our neighborhoods, work in our communities, and are an inescapable part of the fabric of South Florida. They are here to stay. There are innumerable humanitarian grounds for encouraging these undocumented individuals to come out of the shadows in Florida and elsewhere by offering these individuals a driver’s license, but if those reasons don’t suffice, do it simply because doing so protects Florida citizens like you.

Joseph Bosco is a Personal Injury & Criminal Defense Attorney practicing in South Florida’s Tri-County Area.  Have you been injured in an auto accident in South Florida?  Call the Law Offices of Joseph Bosco today at 844-380-HURT for a free consultation today.