A group of citizens opposed to a new state law that puts driver’s licenses in the hands of people living illegally in Massachusetts has collected enough signatures to potentially overturn the measure.
Jim Lyons, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, confirmed on Aug. 22 that of the 75,000 signatures the group collected, 50,617 of them have been certified by the Massachusetts Secretary of the State—putting them well over the 40,000 signatures required to put the new Democrat-driven law to a ballot vote in November.
That means voters, not lawmakers, will decide if illegal immigrants will be given driver’s licenses.
“Despite a radical effort with a do-whatever-it-takes mentality to stand in the way of this democratic process, the people of Massachusetts have stood up and said enough is enough,” Lyons told The Epoch Times.
The group, which began collecting signatures at the end of June, also beat their deadline of Aug. 24 to collect the needed number of signatures from Bay Staters.
They plan to hold a press conference that day on the steps of the state capital to officially announce their accomplishment, one especially underscored by the New England state’s rank as the most liberal state in the United States.
Many of the signature collectors reportedly withstood violent attacks, including one volunteer who said he was punched in the face by a man who was yelling at him in a foreign language outside a Walmart in Waltham.
In outlining the Aug. 20 incident in a sworn statement, Paul Reggio said the man also spat in his face.
When police arrived it was Reggio, not the man who assaulted him, who was accosted by police, according to his statement.
“The two officers continued yelling that I need to leave or be arrested in a loud tone of voice,” stated Reggio who was with his wife.
Witnesses took pictures of the man who allegedly assaulted Reggio, but police took no action against him, according to Reggio’s statement.
Earlier attacks that were reported included a volunteer who was thrown up against a wall. Other protesters reportedly flipped over signature tables and ripped up signature pages.
The attacks prompted the Massachusetts Republican party to file both a federal and state civil rights lawsuit against Democrat lawmakers as well as state attorney general Maura Healey, a Democrat seeking to unseat Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.
Baker vetoed the driver’s license bill, called the “Work and Family Mobility Act,” but the Democrats voted to override his veto and passed the proposal into law on June 8.
Baker warned that issuing driver’s licenses to people residing in the state illegally would lead to voter fraud since anyone issued a driver’s license in Massachusetts is automatically registered to vote.
Democratic Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Acton is named as the “leader” in the attacks in the lawsuits filed by state Republicans.
Eldridge never responded to inquiries made by The Epoch Times about the allegations.
Healey’s office declined to comment on the pending lawsuits, which were filed on July 25.
Healey lists “ensuring” illegal immigrants can receive a driver’s license “regardless of immigration status” as a top priority of her gubernatorial campaign to unseat Republican Baker.
Efforts to legalize the issuance of driver’s licenses to people living illegally in Massachusetts spans decades.
Supporters have emphasized that such a measure would make illegal immigrants living in the state safer drivers since they would have to pass the same road test like U.S. citizens have to in order to obtain a driver’s license.
Others see it differently.
Particularly Maureen Maloney, who spearheaded the referendum drive. Her son Matthew Denice was killed in 2011 when an illegal immigrant from Ecuador took an illegal turn and struck him.
Nicolas Dutan Guaman dragged the 23-year-old under his truck while onlookers tried desperately to get him to stop.
“The idea that somehow people who have proven they have no respect for the laws of this country are all of a sudden going to become great drivers because of a card in their pocket is absurd,” Maloney told The Epoch Times.
Maloney recently attended a parole hearing for Guaman, who—after being in American prison for more than a decade—still doesn’t speak English, she pointed out.
He instead requested a translator for the hearing.
“I rest my case,” she added.
On the issue of automatic enrolment for anyone issued a driver’s license on the state’s voter registration—Maloney told The Epoch Times she is more concerned about the safety risks of giving illegal aliens driver’s licenses.
