While news swirls that Massachusetts is going broke while being hit with a $1.8 billion bill over the next two years to cover surging migrant costs, public officials there are nonetheless in a celebratory mood. A recent state press release explains the reason for their elation: “The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) came together today with elected and community leaders and immigration advocacy groups to mark the one-year anniversary of the Work and Family Mobility Act (WFMA), celebrating the law’s success in having newly-eligible applicants [illegal aliens] pass learner’s permit exams and road tests to receive licenses.”
After years of organizing by a coalition of 270 mass immigration groups — heavily influenced by the far-left Service Employees International Union — the law went into effect on July 1, 2023. Since then, all eligible Massachusetts residents, regardless of immigration status, have been able to apply for a driver’s license by undergoing a vision screening, learner’s permit exam, and subsequent road test.
For mass immigration advocates, and Bay State Democrats salivating over the potential for new voters, there is cause for champagne and high-fives. Despite their duplicitous early claims that the number of illegal aliens applying for, and getting driver’s licenses would be minimal, the number has exceeded expectations.
According to MassLive, while the RMV doesn’t maintain data on how many licenses are issued to illegal aliens specifically (one might wonder, why not?), the RMV concludes that the year-over-year percent increases are the best way to estimate. To that extent, the RMV reports that since the law took effect, it has issued 183,825 new learner’s permits and 128,079 new driver’s licenses to Massachusetts residents, representing an increase of 161 percent for new learner’s permits, and 132 percent for new driver’s licenses when compared to the same time period from 2022 to 2023.
Whatever the exact number, the percentages are eye-popping and will likely soon be more so given there are a lot more illegal aliens in Massachusetts yet to process: FAIR estimates that 392,000 illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children reside in the state…in addition to perhaps many more who are likely incentivized to come for driver’s license and other perks offered by the state.
All this comes at a cost to the taxpayers. The state’s 2024 fiscal year budget authorized the RMV to spend $28 million on launch costs for WFMA to hire 250 additional staff and road test examiners to accommodate the increased demand, verify foreign documents, translate resources into 15 different languages and develop procedures to ensure data privacy.
Massachusetts has long been a sanctuary state, so their decision to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens – as 18 other states have done – was no surprise, nor should be the massive number of illegal aliens lining up to get them. After all, a driver’s license is highly coveted breeder document that not only puts someone behind the wheel legally, but also gives an illegal alien identity, mobility, and a foot in the door to everything else. Consequently, Massachusetts’ illegal alien population will continue to swell and state officials seem ready and willing to oblige. Colleen Ogilvie, registrar of the RMV has assured Massachusetts residents she is committed to “a continuous improvement journey” to make the process of issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens even easier in the years ahead.
