Abdul El-Sayed’s Advocacy for Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic contender for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, once argued for granting driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. He believed that withholding such access constituted discrimination. ‘We’ve got to ensure that in this state we are not discriminating against documentation status,’ El-Sayed expressed during a 2018 campaign interview when he was a gubernatorial candidate. He highlighted that the inability for undocumented individuals to obtain a driver’s license leaves them with limited mobility.

As El-Sayed seeks a Senate seat, past statements on this topic resurface, prompting discussions on whether providing state identification could implicitly validate the presence of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

Concerns Over Government Benefits

Hans von Spakovsky, an elections expert, noted that a driver’s license often serves as a crucial form of identification in the U.S., where national ID cards are not in use. ‘Issuing driver’s licenses to aliens will assist them in various scenarios where a license is necessary, from opening bank accounts to engaging in diverse transactions,’ Spakovsky remarked. He also highlighted that I-9 forms, commonly used for employment eligibility verification, often require little more than a license.

Providing driver’s licenses is a major step in allowing undocumented immigrants to live and work more easily in the U.S., according to Spakovsky.

In the 2018 interview clip, El-Sayed voiced concerns about the disadvantages faced by undocumented immigrants without access to basic state services. He stated, ‘You don’t get access to a lot of the basic things that the state offers everybody else, and I think that’s ridiculous.’

Political Stance and Campaign Platform

Although El-Sayed has distanced himself from labels like ‘progressive’ or ‘far-left,’ he has been a proponent of extensive government intervention in key areas like healthcare, infrastructure, and public services. Among his policies are Medicare for all, opposition to corporate tax breaks, and support for tuition-free higher education. In an interview with Fox News Digital, El-Sayed remarked on the trends within the Democratic Party towards more government intervention, saying, ‘Government ought to be available to set an equal playing field for everybody.’

As El-Sayed’s campaign prepares for the primaries against Rep. Haley Stevens, it hasn’t yet clarified its stance on services for non-residents or on issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants as a form of tacit approval of their presence in the U.S.