Governor Murphy Signs Driver’s License Bill into Law
Culmination of a 15-Year Struggle
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| LAN President Emeritus Frank Argote-Freyre receiving pen from Governor Phil Murphy during Bill Signing Ceremony. |
Governor Phil Murphy
today signed the law permitting undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s
licenses, the culmination of a 15-year advocacy campaign by the Latino activist
organizations across New Jersey.
“Since the founding of
the Latino Action Network in 2009, this has been our number one legislative
priority,” said Christian Estevez, President of LAN. “Governor Murphy’s signing
of this bill is a landmark moment for our community and the entire state of New
Jersey. It makes our state a more humane and safer place to live. The coming
together of a wide range of constituencies made this possible. It challenges
the tone of intolerance set by President Trump at the national level.”
Estevez noted that the list
of allies both in government and on the activist side that helped make it
possible is long. In addition to Governor Murphy, key allies were Senate
President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Assemblywoman Annette
Quijano, and State Senators Teresa Ruiz, Nellie Pou, Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Ron Rice
and Nia Gill. Key allies in the African American community included NAACP NJ
State Conference President Richard Smith, Charles Boyer, leader of Salvation
and Social Justice and Eric Dobson of the Fair Share Housing Center.
Frank Argote-Freyre,
President Emeritus of LAN and a professor of Latin American history at Kean
University made the following statement: “This is a historic moment for the
Latino community of New Jersey. It is a moment when the organizing power of the
community reached a new level. I am confident it will be seen as a turning
point in the struggle for self-empowerment by generations to come. We are
fortunate at this time to have a Governor willing to show courage in the face
of unrelenting attacks on the immigrant community by a shameless President. His
support for our community will be long remembered.”
The Latino Action
Network is a broad, statewide coalition of Latino organizations dedicated to
political empowerment, the promotion of civil rights, and the elimination of
disparities in the areas of education, health, and employment. It was founded
in 2009.
