Granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants has nothing to do with safety

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CONTACT:Evan Lips, communications director617-523-5005 ext. 245

WOBURN — Beacon Hill Democrats, including Methuen state Sen. Diana DiZoglio, have resorted to shielding their leftist agenda behind a Massachusetts police chief’s law enforcement association whose members are appointed by the same radical local Democrats responsible for creating so-called “sanctuary cities.”   

“This is a dangerous situation where political pandering is seeping into law enforcement,” said Republican State Committee Chairman Jim Lyons. “Sen. DiZoglio is telling people the reason she is supporting drivers license is because she wants to show solidarity with the police. You can’t make this stuff up.”  

Lyons referenced DiZoglio’s defense of her committee vote to advance legislation that would give those who enter the country illegally the right to possess a Massachusetts driver’s license. DiZoglio pointed to the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police endorsement of the bill in defending her vote to advance the legislation out of committee, which Senate Democrats tried and failed to keep out of the public eye.

The Methuen Democrat had previously been quoted saying “we need to make sure that everybody is documented and here legally before providing state resources.”  

“That is the same organization that believes making Massachusetts a ‘sanctuary state’ is a good idea,” Lyons said. “What is never discussed is the fact these police chiefs answer to the same radical Democrats responsible for pushing these lawless policies.”

In Chelsea, the sanctuary city overseen by Chief Brian Kyes, president of the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police, his own department determined that illegal immigrants using assumed identities after having obtained fraudulent driver’s licenses are responsible for 80 percent of that city’s illegal heroin trade. 

“Giving illegal immigrants access to driver’s licenses is only the first step in the radical Democrats’ agenda, they also want to use our hard-earned money to provide health care, welfare benefits, and voting rights to illegal immigrants,” Lyons said. “This has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with enabling illegal immigration in Massachusetts for political gain at the expense of law-abiding residents.” 

Lyons, whose father served as a police officer in Arlington, said that while “no one respects the role of local police more than me,” he believes the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs of Police association is wrong on the issue.  

“I intend to communicate with police unions and chiefs throughout the state and will ask them to take a stand with us against the radical push to make Massachusetts a sanctuary state where illegal immigrants are given driver’s licenses,” Lyons said.