Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) revealed that providing thousands of illegal aliens with driver’s licenses will cost Massachusetts taxpayers $28 million.
In 2022, voters in Massachusetts approved a law making driver’s licenses available to more than 80,000 illegal immigrants living across the state.
Everton Candido, a 19-year-old illegal migrant, became the focus of the driver’s license law after being arrested for allegedly killing 77-year-old Walter Wishoski Jr., a U.S. Army National Guard veteran. Candido was driving without a license when he killed Wishoski.
Healey’s office previously stated that the law would cost taxpayers less than $10 million. However, it now says it will likely cost nearly $30 million.
“In support of this new law, H.1 adds $28 million in funding to expand service hours at select RMV locations … new applicants will pay the standard transaction fees at the Registry, bringing in additional revenue that will largely offset these implementation costs,” Healey’s office stated in a budget briefing.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) vetoed the bill but was overruled by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature. In the state Senate, the vote was 32-8, with five Democrats joining Republicans against the bill.
Here's the roll call vote on the Massachusetts House of Representatives bill to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/3XkIWoEfqV
— Howie Carr (@HowieCarrShow) February 16, 2022
Driving without a driver’s license is the first criminal charge that can put illegal immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, leading to arrests and deportations.
Felipa Leonor Valencia, a Mexican woman sentenced to 12 days in a detention center for driving without a license, estimated that more than 4.5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. drive without licenses.
Currently, 16 states allow illegal migrants to have driver’s licenses: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
Since President Joe Biden took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2021, illegal immigration has reached its highest levels in decades.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 5 million encounters with illegal immigrants have occurred at the southern border since 2021.
Since October 2021, CBP authorities seized more than 12,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border, more than enough to kill every person in the U.S.
Illegal immigration doesn’t just carry a monetary burden for the U.S. it threatens the lives of American citizens.
