Immigrants push Murphy on promise of driver's licenses, regardless of legal status

More than 100 immigrants and allies marched in Trenton Tuesday demanding new Gov. Phil Murphy make good on his promise to grant unauthorized immigrants access to New Jersey driver's licenses.

People marched through the state's capital Tuesday morning chanting,"Licencias si, promesas no," which is Spanish for "yes to licenses, no to promises." Others held signs calling for driver's licenses within Murphy's first 100 days.

"Remember, you made it a point in your campaign to promise this," Nuno Pereira, the Elizabeth coordinator for the advocacy group Cosecha New Jersey, said of Murphy. "Now complete it in the first 100 days."

Twelve states and Washington, D.C., offer driver's licenses for unauthorized immigrants and others who may not have proper documentation such as domestic violence victims, natural disaster victims, homeless. Murphy voiced support for legislation that would make New Jersey the 13th state.

Pereira, 22, of Hillside, was born in New York, but his parents lack legal status. He recalls not being able to join his friends at activities or extracurricular clubs growing up because his parents could not pick him up after school. The risk of being found out, he added, often looms over the heads of unauthorized immigrants and their first-generation kids.

The rally is separate from the "Let's Drive New Jersey" campaign that the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice and other organizations launched last week. Several politicians attended that rally, including Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, D-Union, the lead sponsor of the New Jersey Safe and Responsible Driver Act. It's a revised version of the legislation she first introduced in the Assembly in 2014.

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Nuno, who campaigned on the driver's license issue in 2015, said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle let him down the last time the legislation was considered. "We decided it's better to do our own thing, and we respect everyone," he said.

The latest proposals in the Legislature likely will face some resistance from Shore lawmakers. Ninth district legislators Sen. Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Grove, all Republicans, said in a joint statement recently that they would oppose such a measure.

Silvia Martinez, a member of New Labor in Lakewood, said that her job as a house cleaner requires her to commute from one client to the next. Sometimes, she said, she drives without a license to make a living, though she has a car, registration and insurance policy in her name.

"I need it. I don't want to drive with fear of being detained," said Martinez, who attended both the "Let's Drive NJ" rally and the Trenton demonstration.

The legislation proposed by Quijano calls for a driver's license that would not be federal compliant, meaning one that can't be used to board a flight, vote or apply for federal benefits. It would include a label that says "federal limits apply."

Critics of illegal immigration worry that expanding driver's licenses for all immigrants would serve as a reward for those who entered the country or stayed here illegally.

"In New Jersey, you have the six points of ID rules. That gives you some legitimacy as a resident of the state of New Jersey and a resident of the United States," Shelly Kennedy, an Atlantic Highlands resident and a member of the Bayshore Tea Party, told a Press reporter in December.

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Other Monmouth County residents expressed concerns about the proposals and about Murphy's progressive agenda altogether.

"Liberals voted in a criminal," Dineen Yannelli said on Facebook. "He should not be permitted to take office. His platform is to break Federal Law... and tax us to pay for most of it."

Joseph Rudy Rullo, an Ocean County businessman who ran for governor, expressed concerns about Murphy's support for expanding driver's licenses. He worries unauthorized immigrants who successfully apply for licenses won't be properly vetted, yet will be able to rent trucks, airplanes or rent guns at a shooting range, which currently can be done with a valid driver's license. It is unclear whether such businesses would accept a license with the "federal limits apply" label.

"The biggest problem I have is giving driver's licenses to undocumented people," he said in a Facebook Live video. "It doesn't matter what country you're from. You can be undocumented from a country (where) there's terrorists, and there could be terrorists here. And he's going to give driver's licenses blindly to all these people."

"It's a clear threat to National security," Rullo told a Press reporter.

Nuno said this is just one of several immigration issues Cosecha New Jersey plans to pressure Murphy to address as governor. He and advocates across the state also called upon Murphy to sign bills expanding in-state financial aid, professional licenses and other benefits to immigrants, regardless of legal status.

"The driver's license isn't the last step ... it's not going to get you legalization," he said. "It's not the end goal we're fighting for, but it's one step toward it."

This is a developing story. Check app.com for updates.

Steph Solis: @stephmsolis; 732-403-0074; ssolis@gannett.com.