Wisconsin Governor Plans to Give Illegal Aliens Licenses, State IDs

Published: 3/5/2019, 8:20:42 PM EST

Wisconsin Governor Plans to Give Illegal Aliens Licenses, State IDs — Tony Evers, now Democratic governor of Wisconsin, speaks at a rally in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 26, 2018. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The Wisconsin governor wants to give illegal aliens in the state driver licenses and state IDs.

Democrat Governor Tony Evers made the proposal during his Biennial Budget Address to state lawmakers. If made law, Wisconsin would join the 12 states that now offer illegal aliens driver licenses, CBS Minnesota reported.

Some believe it could also lead to illegal aliens getting voting rights, although Evers hasn’t stated this outright. The forms of identification needed to vote in Wisconsin are a driver license, state ID, or student ID card from an in-state university or technical school, La Crosse Tribune reported.

Republican Representative Jim Steineke doesn’t think pairing the twice a year budget with issues on rights for illegal aliens is the best idea. He thinks the proposals for illegals needs to be considered separately and on their own merits, WBAY reported.

“We’re announcing tonight that undocumented folks will be eligible to receive driver’s licenses and ID cards. This makes our roads and our communities safer, and helps strengthen our economy and Wisconsin families,” tweeted Evers.

But there are those is Wisconsin who don't agree with Evers.

“Just like California, they'll be in the voter registry in one year. Prepare to wait hours and hours in the DMV, too. Giving non-citizens state services is to make citizenship meaningless,” tweeted @steph93065, in response to Evers.

“How does someone that is living here illegally getting a license make us safer or strengthen the economy?” asked Brian Kosmoski, also in response to the tweet by Evers.

Representative Adam Neylon, a Republican in the state legislature, thinks the measure would create a situation that doesn’t benefit the state.

"I don't think we should be incentivizing people to break the law," Neylon said via Fox 6. "It's not that it's incentivizing people who are already here to break the law. It's incentivizing more people to break the law to come here to get the benefits that people who are citizens get.”

Neylon said he would be more open to legislation like this if it was framed in a different context.

"If somebody is going through the process of obtaining citizenship, I might be more inclined to look at different options to help streamline that or to help get to work.”

Evers has also proposed that illegal aliens should pay the lower in-state tuition to attend Wisconsin state universities, La Crosse Tribune reported.

Evers assumed the office of governor earlier this year. As the election grew nearer, towards the end of 2018, Evers promised not to raise taxes. In the first budget of his governorship, his proposals would raise taxes by more than a billion dollars, according to Politifact Wisconsin.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington D.C. currently issue licenses to illegal aliens.

Oregon enacted a law in 2013 that allowed for illegals to obtain licenses, but the measure was suspended by voters the following year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

States that issue the licenses usually require illegal aliens to show documentation like a foreign birth certificate, passport, consular card, and evidence that the alien currently resides in the state.