GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Forget about open borders, it’s a conversation regarding “open roads” that’s causing a back and forth debate locally.
Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith believes that a drivers license program for illegal citizens would make the streets safer for everyone.
He went on WTAQ’s John Muir Show Wednesday morning to discuss the topic and argued that denying illegal citizens drivers cards will do nothing to keep them off the road.
“People are going to drive anyways,” he says. “They have lives that they’re living, they’re taking kids to school, they’re going to doctor appointments, they’re getting to their jobs.”
In his mind, if they are on the roads anyways, then steps should be taken to ensure the safety of those drivers and others navigating local streets.
“I think having drivers cards for people that are going to be driving cars anyways would make Green Bay and Wisconsin a safer place for everybody,” says Chief Smith.
He attests that making drivers cards available for these individuals would, at the very least, increase the amount of information available on them.
“At least we’ll know who they are, we’ll know if they’ve been tested and it’ll make Green Bay and all the streets in Wisconsin a little safer,” he explains.
Chief Smith also addressed one specific concern that could possibly be mitigated if a drivers license program was initiated.
“I think we’ll have fewer hit-and-run accidents, which can be a real problem with people that don’t have licenses,” he says. “They flee the scene of an accident, instead of staying there.”
Twelve other states, along with the District of Columbia, have some sort of driving card program in place for illegal citizens.
Those states are California, Connecticut, Colorado, Deleware, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
For Chief Smith, he wants Green Bay to be remembered on the right side of this debate.
“History is going to judge us on how we treat the people that are here,” he explains.
