By State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven

In our Commonwealth, diversity is our greatest strength. Somerville is a shining example, where 25% of the community in our vibrant city are immigrants. Our city thrives on the many people and cultures in which we build community together.

As a daughter of a single mother from Japan, I grew up witnessing the contributions that immigrants provide to our communities every single day. I developed a profound respect for immigrant families, yet at the same time I lived through the immense challenges that recently resettled people are up against.

From a young age, my mom and I were frequently treated as outsiders in our own community. In addition to facing xenophobia and discrimination, many immigrants are marginalized by exclusionary state and federal policies designed to create fear. Immigrants deserve the same opportunities and protections as anyone else in the US. Fundamental human rights are universal, inherited at birth, and should not depend upon documentation status.

Too frequently, immigrants face the crippling decision to either seek public protections that guard our civil rights and risk separation from their families, or to remain silent and vulnerable. Immigrants should never suffer from unsafe working conditions, wage theft, wrongful eviction, reduced access to health care, sexual harassment and assault, or restricted opportunities for education because they fear accessing fundamental protections from discrimination. Fear has no place in our communities.

This spring I cast my vote to pass the Work and Family Mobility Act, and the Senate has now also voted in favor of providing drivers licenses for immigrants. Both chambers have approved the measure with a veto-proof majority, which means should Governor Baker decide to veto this important legislation (which he has previously expressed he may do), we have the votes to override him. I commend all the tireless work immigrants, organizers, and advocates of the Driving Families Forward Coalition, and the bill’s lead sponsors, including Somerville’s own Rep. Barber, have done to ensure we have a veto-proof majority to pass this critical bill.

I am proud that we have taken steps to protect the right to move freely and provide people with a safe means to access employment and education, and support their families. As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that all people, regardless of their immigration status, are able to access services, resources, and care, safely and without fear due to their lack of documents issued by the Massachusetts government.

Giving undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses opens up many opportunities, ensuring our neighbors do more than survive, but thrive. This bill would allow for all qualified Massachusetts residents to apply for and receive either a standard Massachusetts driver’s license or identification card, impacting over 200,000 residents in Massachusetts. To apply, residents must provide proper documentation and prove Massachusetts residency.

Without driver’s licenses, our immigrants without status either lacked access to essential services or placed their health and their family’s health at risk. Without this law, undocumented immigrants are forced to live in daily fear of deportation over a routine traffic stop. This worry is compounded by racial profiling, increasing the likelihood of undocumented immigrants and people of color being pulled over, even if they were not doing anything illegal.

Not only will providing driver’s licenses give peace of mind to undocumented immigrants, but it will also make our streets safer. When undocumented immigrants are granted legal access to driver’s licenses, they will undergo the same testing that all other drivers do. This means that people who do not pass their driving test will not receive a driver’s license, which in turn keeps unsafe drivers off the road, making our streets safer for all.

This vote is a monumental step in ensuring mobility and security for immigrants. Yet, there is so much more we need to do to protect immigrants in Massachusetts through state law. Immigrants deserve more than just the right to exist; they deserve the ability to thrive as full members of our community.

That’s why I filed Somerville’s Home Rule Petition that would allow non-citizen residents to vote in municipal elections. And at the beginning of the pandemic, I co-wrote a letter to Governor Baker demanding his administration to extend vaccination, PPE resources to essential workers including translation and interpretation in multiple languages.

Both inside and beyond the State House, I have spent the past several years fighting alongside advocates and organizing support for the passage of the Safe Communities Act, to ensure that local police do not support, coordinate with, or get deputized by the federal immigration enforcement. The Safe Communities Act must be passed in order to protect immigrants rights.

And I am proud to support and advocate for H.1352 which would ensure tuition equity for all Massachusetts residents, regardless of immigration status. This would extend in-state rates to undocumented students in Massachusetts. We must ensure equal opportunity to public higher education for all high school graduates. Your documentation status should not affect your eligibility for in-state tuition or financial aid.

I will always stand up for legislation that grants immigrants full participation in everyday life and I am committed to transformative and empathetic immigration policies. We must do better for our undocumented neighbors and friends here in Somerville and across Massachusetts. Our fight for immigration justice is far from over.