Immigrant driver license hearing gets canceled at last minute

Updated, 4:31 p.m. 9/14/21 with a list of groups that planned to testify

Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth (R-Clare) asked to nix a long-awaited hearing Tuesday on legislation expanding access to driver licenses and state IDs for a wide range of Michiganders, including both documented and undocumented immigrants.

The Michigan House Rules and Competitiveness Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Jim Lilly (R-Park Twp.), was slated to hold the hearing on House Bills 4835 and 4836 at noon and was canceled just hours before. The two bills make up the Drive SAFE legislation, which stands for safety, access, freedom and the economy.

“Several members reached out to the speaker with concerns, so he asked Rep. Lilly not to hold the hearing,” Wentworth spokesperson Gideon D’Assandro wrote in an email.

Read more from Michigan Advance here.