An unearthed video from 2018 shows Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan, stating that denying driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants is discriminatory. At the time, El-Sayed was running for governor of Michigan.
In the clip, El-Sayed argued that individuals without documentation should not be denied access to licenses. "We've got to make sure that in this state we are not discriminating against documentation status," he said in a campaign interview. "Right now, if you're undocumented, you don't get access to a driver's license. You're stuck."
He expressed concern that undocumented individuals would be ineligible for state-offered advantages. "You don't get access to a lot of the basic things that the state offers everybody else, and I think that's ridiculous and so we've got to stop discriminating that way," El-Sayed stated.
Hans von Spakovsky, an elections expert for Advancing American Freedom, explained that a driver's license can serve as a form of identification for various transactions and government benefits. "Because America does not have a national ID card like the Europeans and other nations, state driver's licenses are a stand-in for that ID card," von Spakovsky said. "Issuing driver's licenses to aliens will help them in all the instances where a license is needed, from opening bank accounts to all types of other transactions."
Von Spakovsky also noted that I-9 forms, used to verify employment eligibility, often require little more than a driver's license. "The key to getting aliens to self-deport would be to ensure that they cannot rent apartments, open bank accounts and take all of the other steps necessary to live and work in the US," he said. "Providing them driver's licenses is a huge step in allowing them to easily live and work in the United States."
El-Sayed, who has previously rejected labels such as "progressive" or "far-left," has advocated for increased government services in areas like affordability, infrastructure, and public services. He supports Medicare for all, opposes corporate tax breaks, and advocates for tuition-free higher education. In a prior interview with Fox News Digital, El-Sayed stated, "Government ought to be available to set an equal playing field for everybody and to offer those basic things that everybody needs and deserves."
El-Sayed's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding how far government should extend services to non-residents or whether providing licenses to undocumented immigrants would implicitly endorse their presence in the country.
El-Sayed is set to face Rep. Haley Stevens in the state's primaries on Tuesday evening. The winner will advance to the general election on November 3.