To the Editor:
Starting in 2018 it will be a lot more difficult to board an airplane or enter a federal building. We owe this inconvenience to the federal REAL ID law, which calls for new driver's license and ID card requirements. Minnesota is one of five states not yet in compliance, so next year your license will be worthless for federal purposes like flying or getting onto a military base unless we act now.
We can easily avoid any headaches by passing a simple fix to make Minnesota licenses compliant. Unfortunately, on March 6 Senator Tony Lourey joined his Democrat colleagues to block a bill that would do just that. Why? Because Gov. Dayton asked Senate Democrats to hold up the bill in order to get driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.
You read that right. Senator Lourey put illegal immigrants ahead of 5 million Minnesotans whose lives are about to get significantly more complicated. Keep in mind, our bill takes no position on illegal immigrants; it's a clean bill with only one goal: to let Minnesotans keep flying without hassle.
Fifteen months ago Gov. Dayton said it would be "catastrophic" not to pass REAL ID; now he is exerting pressure on Democrats to kill REAL ID over driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. It is disappointing Senator Lourey was more than happy to fall in line.
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Call Senator Lourey and ask him why he prioritized illegal immigrants over you and your family. Tell him to stop playing politics and support a clean REAL ID bill.
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen
Minnesota State Senator
