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Pennsylvania State Senate
10/08/2024 08:23 PM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?SPick=20230&chamber=S&cosponId=42668
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: May 8, 2024 11:31 AM
From: Senator Cris Dush
To: All Senate members
Subject: Recording information about Pennsylvania’s Noncitizen population
 
                In the near future, I plan to introduce a bill that will require our state to record more information about noncitizens whenever they interact with the department of transportation.

                It is no secret that U.S.-Mexico border crossings have been at all-time highs for the past several years. The number of migrants apprehended at the Southern Border has been above 2 million for the last two fiscal years. Most of these migrants chose to live in Texas or California, but some make their way to Pennsylvania. Per the Pew Research Center, Pennsylvania had 170,000 undocumented immigrants in 2019. That number undoubtedly grown much higher in recent years, given the crisis at the southern border.

                As more people enter our state, whether documented or undocumented, our demographics and population change. It is important that our state understands the people who are entering it so that we can make better policy decisions. This bill will not create any extra burdens on noncitizens applying for driver’s licenses. It will simply allow PennDOT to record information so that our state can make better decisions.

                Currently, the department of transportation verifies a noncitizen’s status (lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, etc.) through the SAVE system whenever that individual applies for a driver’s license. This simple bill would simply allow PennDOT to save that information alongside the individual’s driver’s record so that the Commonwealth can have a better picture of its noncitizen population.

                This legislation is especially important given our Governor, Secretary of Transportation, and Department of Transportation’s support for giving driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. If our state chooses to provide undocumented immigrants with licenses, then it only makes sense that we document information about these individuals, like we do for documented immigrants and all of our own citizens.