How many unauthorized immigrants actually get licenses when driver’s license policies are expanded to allow them to apply?
The Fiscal Policy Institute looks at the experience of five states and the District of Columbia, and finds that, based on these examples, between 25 percent and 50 percent of unauthorized immigrants over the age of 16 obtain a license in the first three years.
A new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress looks at how Syrian immigrants fare in the United States.
After a political campaign season in which Syrians coming to the United States were met with harsh words and proposals, this report takes a calm look at how immigrants from Syria are faring in the United States. The findings are reassuring: Syrian immigrants are highly educated, disproportionately likely to be business owners, learn English, and become home owners invested in their communities. Refugees come under different circumstances than the immigrants who came before them, but the fact that there are people in the United States who speak the same language and know the culture they come from can be a substantial help to the newcomers in finding their way into American society and the American labor market.
This report is a companion to the report FPI and CAP released in June about the integration of four refugee groups in the United States over the span of several decades: Hmong, Somalis, Burmese, and Bosnians.
As many cities across the nation experience population decline and an increase in vacant and distressed property, there is a need for economic and housing revitalization. New research from Welcoming Economies Global Network and Fiscal Policy Institute indicates that immigrants represent some of the brightest potential for revitalizing urban communities. However, experience suggests, that immigrants are often overlooked and underestimated by homeownership, community development, and affordable housing advocates, practitioners, and programs.
This report, which includes an interactive tool, show that immigrants have strong rates of potential home ownership in 23 target cities, and suggest that efforts that encourage homeownership and/or vacant property purchase could yield significant returns by targeting immigrant groups.
Cities included in the study are: Akron, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Des Moines, Detroit, Indianapolis, Lafayette (IN), Manchester, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, St. Louis, St. Paul, Syracuse, Toledo, Utica, and York (PA).
The interactive tool can be accessed here.
The cost of getting a driver’s license has become entwined with many different issues recently. It is relevant to discussions of allowing unauthorized immigrants to apply for licenses. It has come up in states that require people to show identification in order to vote and in discussions surrounding fees that are a barrier to getting a state-issued ID. And, some states have acted to reduce the burden for some groups by allowing free or reduced-cost licenses to homeless people, senior citizens, veterans, or people recently released from incarceration.
The fee charged for a driver’s license varies substantially from state to state. For instance, after adjusting for the number of years for which it is valid and other factors to make a fair comparison, we find that the cost of a license in the lowest-cost state, Wyoming, is less than one tenth of the costs in the highest-cost state, Vermont.
This report lays out the fees for a driver’s license and associated costs in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.