Florida Reverses Course on Rhode Island Drivers Being Ineligible in the Sunshine State
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
The State of Florida had declared that driver's licenses from states that provide undocumented immigrants licenses would be invalid in the Sunshine State.
More than 400,000 Rhode Islanders would be impacted, but late on Monday afternoon, Florida pulled a U-turn and changed policy.
In an email to GoLocal, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced the reversal.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"Rhode Island was removed from the list of out-of-state driver license classes that are invalid in Florida, originally published on the FLHSMV website on July 1, 2023, after receiving information from the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles that their standard (non-Real ID compliant) cards are the same as those issued to illegal immigrants without proof of legal presence in the United States," said Molly Best, the Director of Communications for the Department told GoLocal.
Florida First Ruled
Previously, Florida’s policy would have impacted about half of Rhode Island’s 800,000 drivers.
"The governor said some states are allowing undocumented migrants to get licenses and now some of them are no longer valid in Florida," reported Local 10 in Miami.
Last week, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles had put out a list of five states, and the specific types of licenses that were "invalid," and the listed states were Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
In accordance with legislation passed in the 2022 Rhode Island legislative session, "Driver Privilege Cards" began being available for issuance beginning in July of 2023.
License Issues Unvaild
The problem is that the licenses for undocumented drivers look just like those of Rhode Islanders who are U.S. citizens who have yet to get the "REAL ID" designation, that now does not go into effect until 2025.
According to Florida's initial ruling, if you hadn't gotten a REAL ID, and your Rhode Island license said "Not for Federal Identification" -- you then also technically couldn't drive in Florida, whether you were a citizen or not.
On Monday morning, Best had sent the following statement to GoLocal regarding the issue.
“Here is the picture that is listed on our website for the Rhode Island license class(es) that are not valid in Florida,” Best told GoLocal. “Additionally, here is the link: Visiting Florida Frequently Asked Questions - Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (flhsmv.gov)
"If a Rhode Islander has a valid driver's license, does not have one of the below-pictured classes listed on it, and is a legal U.S. citizen, then they can travel as normal in Florida," said Best.
The only problem? Nearly half of all registered Rhode Islanders' driver's licenses contained the verbiage -- and for documented U.S. citizens.
"I know the matter is under review by state’s lawyers. We’re looking at an appeal to have Rhode Island removed from their list," DMV spokesperson Paul Grimaldi told GoLocal Monday morning. "We have roughly 400,000 people [in Rhode Island who] have that on their license, who for whatever reason didn’t get a REAL ID."
Grimaldi said that because the license for citizens and undocumented immigrants both have the 'Not for Federal Identification' verbiage, Florida would then be banning them both.
"They won't be able to tell the difference between the 63-year-old grandmother from Cranston and an undocumented immigrant," he said.
For now, Rhode Island is off Florida's list, and snowbirds and Disney visitors from Rhode Island can drive without penalty.
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