La Voz Unida approach the council again to ask for a resolution in favor of the Driver Privilege Card
For the second time in a row, the Bremen Town Council meeting was standing room only as La Voz Unida, the local Latino population, and their supporters waited for the council’s decision about whether or not to make a resolution in support of the Driver Privilege Card (DPC) for undocumented workers. a report on the discussion between La Voz and the Bremen Town Council was published in the Jan. 25 edition of the Pilot News, page 1.
The discussion during the council meeting lasted over an hour with multiple voices speaking in favor of it. The main ones were La Voz Unida spokesperson, Ed Rodriguez, Jim Morrison, and Immigration attorney Felipe Marino of Goshen with practices in Goshen, Ligonier, and Plymouth.
The DPC is an initiative currently before the senate in the form of SB 2048. On Feb. 7, it passed the Senate Homeland Security & Transportation and is scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee of appropriations on Feb. 16 or 23. already, it has gone through many renovations, some of which were proposed by Merino himself. at present, the senate co-sponsors include nine republicans and two democrats.
Rodriguez reminded the council that the card only ensures that the possessor of it has been trained to drive a vehicle and has passed both the written and practical driving exam and will require full coverage insurance just like any other legal driver. “We want to make sure that we’re all protected,” said Merino. “This is just a way of us taking care of we have here in Indiana in the meantime until Washington gets their act together.” The DPC also has its limitations, such as
it is only legal in Indiana, it cannot be used to vote, enter a federal building, or board an airplane, nor can be used for identification.
Also, in order to legally possess a DPC, an undocumented worker has to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in order to prove he or she pays Indiana income taxes. This has to be obtained through possession of a legal passport from their country of origin. “You have to have federally recognized documents in order to get a card,” Merino explained.
Merino also explained that one of the amendments to SB2048 states that any undocumented worker who wants an DPC would also have to sign an affidavit that, pending long-overdue federal immigration reform, they will pursue legal status. “[It] says, ‘As soon as the legal process opens up and is available for me by congress, I will sign up to become a permanent resident,’” he said.
Merino’s explanation and promise that the bill has and will be amended for clarification satisfied Councilman Michael Leman’s concerns from the Jan. 23 meeting. Councilman Rick Graverson, however, was concerned about the deterioration of the legal system. “My concern is the laws of this country and I see them slowly but surely going away and now we’re going to end up being an anarchy in this place if we’re not careful with what we do,” Graverson said.
Several people spoke passionately in response to his position. “The requirement of US citizenship was not always the case in Indiana. People could get a driver’s license, around the 1970s, just by being here. But then that requirement—being a U.S. citizen was placed just recently. Some laws are unjust and we can change the laws. This is an opportunity, a show of support, to change an unjust law,” said one supporter of the resolution.
In the end, when there was a call for a vote, the council voted unanimously to ask the Bremen Town Attorney, Tony Wagner, to develop a resolution in favor of SB2048, to be voted on at the next council meeting on Feb. 27.