A driver’s license seems like such a small thing for those who have always had one. You show it when you need to. You renew it when you need to, and we all complain about the cost of insurance. Nearly everyone has a story about learning to drive and finally getting that license. It’s a part of life most of us just take for granted.

But what about not having a license? Basic stuff like supporting your family, shopping for groceries, getting the kids to school — not to mention the important stuff like having to get to the hospital in an emergency — becomes dicey at best and unalterably life-changing at worst.

That trouble isn’t limited to getting around. Without a driver’s license, you can’t open a bank account. You can’t get a hotel room. You can’t show ID to pick up your kids after school. It’s hard even to get a library card.

Most of us can’t imagine not being able to do these things when we need to. If you think about it, so many aspects of just trying to afford your life and live with dignity from day to day actually depend on having a driver’s license.

Now consider this: for 75,000 Minnesotans, especially in Greater Minnesota, these simple tasks are next to impossible.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I support a bill called “Drivers Licenses for All” that will help these 75,000 Minnesotans — our neighbors, our co-workers, our kids’ friends’ parents — do all the things the rest of us take for granted. They want to do the things we complain about. They want to stand in that line and take the driver’s test. They’d love to pay for car insurance. But they can’t.

They can’t because an outdated state law blocks them from getting a license because their immigration status isn’t in order. Now you might ask, why should people whose immigration status isn’t in order be able to get a driver’s license, anyway?

Because driving and immigration status are different. A driver’s license is a straight-up matter of public safety. It’s the job of state government to ensure that people are competent and able to drive vehicles, drivers are insured, and roads are safe.

Citizenship and immigration are a complicated issue that it’s Washington’s job to sort out. It’s a core function of the federal government, not the state.

If you think about it, there’s no rational, public-policy reason that our system of licensing drivers in Minnesota should have anything to do with our nation’s immigration system. Personally, I’m strongly in favor of an immigration system that works for everyone, but our current system is broken. It penalizes people who want to help grow our economy and businesses who want to play by the rules. It works only for those who break the law by exploiting others.

That’s why I’ve long supported a rational overhaul of our immigration laws that would unleash economic growth, entrepreneurship, and the genius of all Minnesotans. I’m not alone: a bipartisan coalition of business owners, workers, advocates, and rural, urban, and suburban folks has been pushing for comprehensive immigration reform for years.

But 75,000 Minnesotans need to get their kids to school now. They need to get their ailing parent to the doctor now. So they’re doing what any one of us would do if we couldn’t get a license but caring for our family depended on driving: they’re driving anyway. They’re on the roads driving cars they can’t insure because they can’t see any other way to support their families.

Don’t you want to know that the person driving alongside you on the highway has passed the test and the eye exam to get properly licensed to drive? Don’t you want to know they have the insurance coverage required by law that will protect you and them if something bad happens? I sure do.

Someday, Washington will get its act together; when it does, many of these same folks whose immigration status isn’t in order today will get their status in order. For some of them, their status isn’t in order today just because bureaucracy can be slow; they’ve done everything required of them to keep it up, but the federal government has taken too long to keep its side of the bargain. Related Articles Caryn Sullivan: ‘9 Secrets to Thriving’ arrived at the right moment in this year of adversity

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Minnesota, we don’t need to wait for Washington to get its act together. When we go ahead and repeal our outdated law, everyone who can pass the test and wants to pay for insurance will be able to get that driver’s license. They’ll be better able to afford their lives and live with dignity, and all of us will do better for it.

Keith Ellison, a Democrat, was elected Minnesota attorney general in 2018 and has been serving since Jan. 7. He previously was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota’s fifth district.