Politics

N.H. bill targets undocumented immigrants driving with legal Mass. licenses

The bill would invalidate all licenses issued across the country without providing proof of lawful residence.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File

January 3, 2024

1 minute to read

Legislators in New Hampshire are looking to criminalize undocumented immigrants driving with legal out-of-state licenses, countering Massachusetts’s recent efforts to increase access to driver’s licenses for undocumented residents.

The new bill introduced this year in the New Hampshire Senate by ten Republican legislators would invalidate any licenses issued elsewhere in the country without providing proof of lawful residence. Drivers would be punished with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a fine or probation.

In Massachusetts, the Work and Family Mobility Act went into effect earlier this year, allowing some of the state’s 250,000 undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses. Proponents said the measure would improve mobility and safety among undocumented immigrants and their communities.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles has issued more than 50,000 new licenses since the law went into effect in July, an increase of 120%, although not all of those were for undocumented residents.

Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont all have similar laws allowing residents to obtain licenses regardless of immigration status, with Vermont’s law going back to 2013. Fifteen other states across the country also issue licenses without proof of lawful residence.

On the other hand, Florida has laws invalidating some out-of-state licenses issued without proof of immigration status as of July 2023. Massachusetts is not one of those states.

According to WBUR, legislation similar to its New England neighbors that would allow undocumented New Hampshire residents to obtain licenses has failed six times.

New Hampshire shares borders with Vermont and Massachusetts and is less than an hour drive from Boston.