Milford Rep. Murray A No-Vote On Licenses For Undocumented Law

MILFORD, MA — The state House on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow undocumented residents to get licensed to drive, but a Milford lawmaker stood out in opposition to the proposal.

The bill, called the Work and Family Mobility Act, passed with a veto-proof 120-36 majority in the Democrat-controlled House. Milford state Rep. Brian Murray was one of eight Democrats who voted no.

Murray said he wasn't comfortable with the bill as passed because it would allow undocumented residents to use paperwork from foreign countries as proof of identity. Those documents include foreign passports and unexpired consular ID documents.

"The reliance is upon foreign documents, which the Registry of Motor Vehicles may or may not be familiar with," Murray said Thursday.

Gov. Charlie Baker has expressed a similar concern, and has squashed other attempts in the past.

"My problem with giving licenses to people who are undocumented is just that, there's no documentation to back up the fact that they are who they say they are," Baker has said.

Advocates of the law say it's safer to give undocumented residents a pathway to get licensed to ensure they're meeting state qualifications — as opposed to driving illegally without any license.

The state Senate will next take up debate on the Work and Family Mobility Act. Senate President Karen Spilka has supported similar measures and said this week she's "excited to see progress is being made" on the issue.

"As the bill now heads to the Senate, I very much look forward to having further discussions with our membership on this issue," she said in a statement Wednesday.

The other Democrats who voted against H. 4461 include Rep. Mark Cusack (D-Braintree), Rep. Colleen Garry (D-Lowell), Rep. Joseph Kearney (D-Scituate), Rep. Christopher Markey (D-Dartmouth), Rep. David Robertson (D-Tewksbury), Rep. Jeffrey Turco (D-Winthrop) and Rep. Tom Walsh (D-Peabody). No House Republicans voted for the bill.