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Immigrant families in Massachusetts win again, after GOP effort to repeal driver's license law fails [1]
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Date: 2022-11-10
The Yes on 4 for Safer Roads campaign said passage of the Work and Mobility Act this past summer was “a victory that has been years in the making. What started with a discussion between leaders at the Brazilian Worker Center and 32BJ SEIU grew into a movement of over 270 organizations, businesses, and leaders across the state that powered this movement.”
But its passage in June didn’t come without bumps thrown onto the road by Republicans. Gov. Charlie Baker had initially vetoed the legislation based on completely unfounded reasoning, including supposed voter fraud concerns. Baker’s claims were, in fact, labeled a “red herring” by The Boston Globe’s editorial board. Thankfully, the state legislature was able to override Baker’s veto, passing the bill into law with an effective date of July 2023.
But anti-immigrant Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl, immediately coalesced to challenge the law and have unlicensed drivers on roads, and began seeking tens of thousands of signatures needed to get a measure to try to overturn it onto the 2022 ballot. Diehl himself majorly lost his own race this week. The commonsense law he sought to overturn, meanwhile, is here to stay.
“Massachusetts chose to vote #YESon4 to uphold the Work and Family Mobility Act as law,” The Yes on 4 for Safer Roads campaign said. “Because of this, all drivers in our state—regardless of immigration status—will now be able to apply for a standard driver's license,” a tweet continued.
Initial polling had not been strongly in the law’s favor, with 47% in opposition, 46% in support, and 7% unsure. But following the bill’s passage, polling dramatically shifted, with 58% of respondents in support and 34% in opposition. The law’s advocates invested half a million dollars in ads in the weeks before Election Day. Yes on 4 efforts ultimately spent about $3.5 million, compared to $219,000 against. The sweat and tears put in by advocates who’d been championing this measure for years, meanwhile, can’t be measured.
x Prop 308 has picked up a few votes! We are at a little bit over 30k votes up.
Keep sending your prayers 🥹🙏🏼 — Prop. 308 🗳 (@ReynaEMontoya) November 10, 2022
Other pro-immigrant policies at play across the nation also seem hopeful. In Arizona, the measure that would open in-state tuition rates to young undocumented immigrants continues to narrowly lead. The proposition received the endorsement of former President Barack Obama, who called it “the right thing to do.”
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Holy crap, what an amazing night! Where do we even begin this week's episode of The Downballot? Well, we know exactly where: abortion. Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard recap Tuesday's extraordinary results, starting with a clear-eyed examination of the issue that animated Democrats as never before—and that pundits got so badly wrong. They also discuss candidate quality (still really important!), Democratic meddling in GOP primaries (good for democracy, actually), and "soft" Biden disapprovers (lots of them voted for Democrats).
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/10/2135046/-Immigrant-families-in-Massachusetts-win-again-after-GOP-effort-to-repeal-driver-s-license-law-fails
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