Allowing illegal immigrants in Oklahoma to obtain a driver’s license would reduce certain types of crime, raise $2.5 million in state revenue, and reduce auto insurance premiums, according to supporters of state Senate Bill 669, including Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The measure’s detractors counter that the proposal is a stepping stone to granting illegal immigrants the right to vote.
“Giving illegal aliens a driver’s license is beyond absurd,” Don Spencer, president of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, told The Epoch Times.
SB 669 has advanced out of committee and is now ready to go before the full state Senate. The bill, authored by state Sen. Michael Brooks-Jimenez, a Democrat, would change state law to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.
Brooks-Jimenez, who’s also an Oklahoma City immigration attorney, didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment about the legislation.
Spencer posted a video on his YouTube channel of Brooks answering questions about the bill in a meeting of the Aeronautics and Transportation Committee. At that meeting, state Sen. Joe Newhouse, a Republican, asked Brooks-Jimenez if the bill would allow an illegal immigrant to receive a driver’s license.
“If they’re paying their fair share, if they’re paying their taxes arm-in-arm with the rest of us, then they should have that opportunity,” Brooks-Jimenez replied.
Spencer confirmed that a March 16 letter acquired by The Epoch Times came from the governor’s office.
The letter expresses Stitt’s support for HB2114, the companion to SB669 in the state’s House of Representatives, and lists potential benefits and safeguards in the law.
