Telegram & Gazette: Cristina Araujo Brinkerhoff (PhD’23) Urges “Yes” Vote for Immigrant Driver’s Licenses
This past summer, Massachusetts passed the Work and Family Mobility Act, which made qualified state residents eligible for driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status. However, a small but vocal group has added a ballot question to the Massachusetts general election that could reverse the law. BUSSW PhD candidate and Brazilian immigrant Cristina Brinkerhoff (PhD’23) wrote an op-ed for Telegram & Gazette explaining why this law makes the roads safer for everyone without infringing on the rights of American citizens.
Excerpt from “Why ‘Yes’ Vote on Question 4 Matters” by Cristina Brinkerhoff, originally published in Telegram & Gazette:
My requests are twofold: that you vote yes on the referendum – to keep the law intact – and that you educate anyone who argues otherwise.
Massachusetts is the 17th state to have passed a law to extend a driver’s license to all residents regardless of immigration status. The law is scheduled to go into effect in July 2023. States that have implemented licenses-for-all-qualified-drivers laws have noticed that it has made the roads safer.
Researchers at the Stanford Policy Lab found that after California passed its law in 2013, hit-and-run accidents declined by 7% to 10% in 2015 after the state extended licenses to 600,000 people.
When I think about the prospect of deportation for an inconsequential mistake like hitting a snowbank, I understand why someone without a license would flee a fender bender. Younger Cristina needed the opportunity to be a tested, licensed and insured driver. That would have made the roads and me safer.”