News

BY PETE DELEA

Latino residents and immigrant rights organizations united at the State House in Annapolis on February 24, voicing their support of legislation to permit undocumented workers to acquire driver's licenses and pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities.

Demonstrators cheered as Ricardo Flores, president of the Maryland Latino Coalition for Justice (MLCFJ), a statewide advocacy program for promoting Latino rights, addressed them, calling it "a historic night." MLCFJ organized the evening event, billing it as "Latino Action Night."

Hundreds of immigrants from throughout the state displayed signs, sang songs and chanted outside the capitol just yards away from the governor's mansion where Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) was hosting a dinner for Prince George's County legislative delegates.

"Everyone says this country stands for freedom, we want to see it," said Juan Morales, a Hyattsville resident, who is here legally from El Salvador. "We need driver's licenses and an education to get to work."

Supporters of a driver's license bill say that many immigrants, even those who are here legally, lack the proper documentation needed to obtain a license and are finding it difficult to find work as a result.

"A driver's license is a necessary tool," said Leonel Betancur, an undocumented worker from Guatemala who just recently entered the country. "We need driver's licenses to work."

He said that many job locations, such as construction sites, are not always at the same location, and are normally difficult to get to by bus. As a result he said that many immigrants continue to drive without licenses. Betancur believes that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain licenses as a result of backlash against immigrants after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Francisco Pacheco, a MLCFJ Board Member and Program Director at CASA of Maryland, said that licenses are vital to Latino success and would actually bolster national security: "In this country a driver's license and a car are not luxuries, they are necessities. With driver's licenses we are supporting national security because the government will know where each one of us is."

Natali Fani, a Goucher College student and also a MLCFJ board member, said that driver's licenses are important and education for Latinos is equally essential: "Latino's are this country's largest minority group and we are growing. We can't afford to have an uneducated population."

The bill being pushed by advocacy groups would allow children who have grown up in Maryland to attend state colleges and universities at an in-state tuition rate regardless of their immigrant status. Tuition and mandatory fees for the 2002 academic year at the University of Maryland for non-residents is $14,717 and $5,734 for state residents, according to university's Web site.

Fani said that many students are brought to the country without documents because their parents have few economic opportunities back home. The children are raised in the Maryland education system, but then hit a brick wall after graduating high school because tuition rates are too high.

"People have to know that we as Hispanics care and work hard for the rights that every human being is entitled to have," said Del. Ana Sol Guttierez (D-Montgomery).

The night was capped off with Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) receiving over 8,000 signatures in support of a driver's license bill and by him encouraging dialogue between the Latino community and government leaders.

"Mi casa es su casa," said Steele. "Our door is open to you always. Your concerns will be heard and addressed. So let's get to work."