This article is an excerpt from a law review article written by three attorneys at the ACLU-MN for William Mitchell's Law Raza Journal. The full article can be found here.
Racial profiling is a pervasive issue for immigrants in the United States, and it is becoming increasingly problematic for Latinos living and working in the predominantly rural communities of Greater Minnesota. Reports from throughout the state indicate that Latinos are disproportionately targeted by the police on a regular basis.
In recent years, immigrants' rights advocates have lobbied the Minnesota Legislature in support of a change in the law that would allow all Minnesota residents to obtain a driver's license regardless of immigration status. Advocates have raised numerous arguments in support of expanding the driver's license privilege, including its benefits to public safety, increasing the percentage of insured drivers, and allowing for increased participation in society. Often overlooked in this discussion is the effect that expanding the privilege could have on decreasing instances of the racial profiling of Latino residents.
This article begins with a discussion of the work of the American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU"), and its Minnesota affiliate, relating to immigrants' rights. Next, this article provides an overview of current federal and state laws dealing with racial profiling. This discussion of current laws will focus on law enforcement stops of Latino drivers. Third, this article analyzes the debate over providing driver's licenses to state residents regardless of immigration status. Finally, this article concludes that, given the current state of racial profiling law, allowing a driver's license privilege to all Minnesota residents is sound public policy that has the potential to decrease instances of racial profiling.
Written by: Ian Bratlie, Ben Feist and Teresa Nelson, all of the ACLU-MN.