Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday that he supports giving illegal immigrants the ability to get a driver’s license.

“I want every driver in the state of Connecticut to prove that they are a safe driver, regardless of where they came from. You are visiting from Australia for an extended amount of time, you should get a license,” Malloy told reporters at the state Capitol. “Why even ask where someone is coming from? I don’t feel obligated to do that… What difference does it make? I want safe drivers.”

Malloy’s comments come as House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey and Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney rally in support of allowing illegal immigrants to get a license or permit.

With thousands of undocumented immigrants currently living in the state, the bills that would have provided the path to getting them a license failed to be voted out of the legislature’s Transportation Committee before its deadline.

However, with the initiative enjoying the support of the speaker of the house, senate majority leader and governor, the proposal is could still become law.

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

Leave a comment