A group of New Hampshire lawmakers has proposed a bill that would make it illegal for undocumented immigrants with valid licenses to drive in the Granite State
Senate Bill 358 is being backed by eight New Hampshire state senators and two state representatives. The proposal would invalidate out-of-state driver's licenses issued to undocumented immigrants and require the Division of Motor Vehicles to keep an updated list on its website of out-of-state licenses that are invalid in New Hampshire.
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It would impact drivers from states like Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut, which have laws in place allowing undocumented immigrants to receive driver's licenses.
Eva Castillo, director of the New Hampshire Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees, says she's against this proposal.
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"It is really ridiculous that a document that is valid in other states, that you cannot drive in the state of New Hampshire," she said.
If the bill were to pass, undocumented immigrants with licenses from neighboring states would face Class B misdemeanor charges for operating in New Hampshire.
Castillo believes that if this bill becomes a law, it will open the door to racial profiling from the police.
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"It is going to expose our police departments to lawsuits, and you know they're going to be stopping people that look like immigrants just to check if they have papers," she said.
"The economy would go down in our community, because if I can't go to work and I can't travel, how am I supposed to pay rent?" asked Alicia Cortez of Movimiento Cosecha. "With the rents being so high, now that food is so high, how am I supposed to do this?"
NBC10 Boston tried to contact multiple New Hampshire state senators who have sponsored this bill for comment, but had no luck.
