LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appeared to support a change in state law to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, when she gave an impromptu interview to an immigrants rights organization during the Democratic presidential debates in Detroit.

“We need to ensure that everyone’s got a path to getting a license, so they’ve got identification,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said in a video released by the group Movimiento Cosecha after an organizer for the group asked her if she favored issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.

“That’s something that’s important to me, it’s important to our economy, and it’s important to the people of Michigan.”

Michigan passed legislation to ban the practice in 2008 after Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican, issued a formal opinion in 2007 saying undocumented immigrants could not obtain driver's licenses. Cox's opinion reversed a 1995 opinion from former Attorney General Frank Kelley, a Democrat.

Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for Whitmer, would not answer directly Friday morning when asked whether Whitmer favors changing state law to allow undocumented immigrants to hold Michigan driver's licenses. But she did not deny the accuracy of the video and transcript released by Movimiento Cosecha.

"Not sure I’ll have much more to add outside of what the governor said in the video about ensuring that undocumented immigrants have a path to getting an ID," Brown said in an email.

She did not specify what that path would look like or whether she was talking about a state identification other than a driver's license. In the video, Whitmer specifically referenced driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.

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A dozen states, including Illinois and California, plus the District of Columbia issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Proponents say allowing undocumented immigrants to hold driver's licenses would help Michigan's economy by making it easier for them work and pay taxes. They say it also would enable them to avoid being detained and deported in many cases, since a major reason for being detained is failing to produce a valid driver's license.

Opponents say the practice raises national security concerns and rewards those who do not observe all immigration requirements at the expense of those who do.

Republicans generally oppose licenses for undocumented immigrants, while Democrats are split on the issue.

In a statement on Twitter Friday, Michigan Senate Republicans said the entire chamber, including then Sen. Whitmer, voted unanimously in 2008 to withhold driver's licenses from "anyone in our state illegally."

"Gov. Whitmer should listen to Sen. Whitmer," the statement said.

Whitmer stepped into the contentious debate at the same time she has counseled Democratic presidential candidates to avoid veering too far to the left and to focus on "dinner table" issues such as wages and education. For example, in an interview with the New York Times, she was critical of instances in the first Democratic debate in Miami when candidates raised their hands to questions such as whether free health care should be provided to undocumented immigrants.

Brown, the governor's spokeswoman, said there is no inconsistency.

"This was simply the governor responding to a question from a constituent," she said.

Whitmer said in the interview with Movimiento Cosecha that Michigan fortunately has a secretary of state and an attorney general who "feel the same way" about the issue that she does.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson "has met with community leaders and legislators and stands with the governor in support of changing the law so that all individuals working and residing in our state may obtain a state ID or a driver’s license for use in Michigan," said spokesman Michael Doyle.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, supports issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said Friday.

Members of Movimiento Cosecha were arrested this week when they blocked the entrance to the Detroit-Windsor tunnel in an effort to raise awareness of immigration issues during the Democratic debates.

Dominique Leon Becerra, the group organizer who spoke to and recorded Whitmer, said they plan to make sure the governor follows through.

“No empty promises," she said in a news release. "We need to see real results and a plan to make driver’s licenses accessible to our community now!”

The Michigan Catholic Conference has long supported issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants "as a matter of human dignity and the reality that transportation is necessary to get people to the places they need to be," said spokesman David Maluchnik.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.