LANSING, Mich. -- Undocumented people in Michigan would regain the right to apply for a driver's license or ID card, if two bills introduced Tuesday in the state Senate were to pass.

They're called the Drive SAFE bills, which stands for Safety, Access, Freedom and the Economy.

Sainavya Upparapalle, a 17-year-old member of Michigan's immigrant community from Troy, said the current rules are a huge burden on families such as hers, because her driver's license became invalid when the family's visa came up for renewal.

"I can't go out to get groceries. I can't go out at all. I can't go to school because I can't drive anymore," Upparapalle explained. "And, you know, these are small things, but they make such a huge change in our lives."

Opponents have said giving government IDs to undocumented people would undermine immigration laws. Supporters argued everyone is safer on the road when all drivers have access to training, licensing tests and insurance.

Rep. Rachel Hood, D-Grand Rapids, is a co-sponsor of the Michigan House version of the bills, set to be introduced next week.

"Immigrants touch all sectors of our economy, from agriculture and manufacturing to hospitality, health care, construction and more," Hood outlined. "Immigrants are employers, taxpayers, homeowners, and they're our neighbors, family members and friends."

Rob Steffens, owner of Steffens Orchard Market in Sparta, said agriculture depends on immigrant workers.

"We need this population," Steffens contended. "It's important for us, for our economy. It's in the best interest of everybody including the taxpayer to have people be able to drive legally."

Senate Bill 433 and Senate Bill 434 would grant an estimated 100,000 people the right to apply for a driver's license and state ID card, a right that existed in state law prior to 2008. Eighteen other states and territories have already passed similar measures.

A Tennessee immigrant-led group and other advocates are suing the state over a new law they said unfairly targets people who offer shelter to undocumented immigrants.

Of the over 400,000 immigrants living in Tennessee, around 128,000 are undocumented.

Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and its political action committee TIRRC Votes, said her organization is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the "anti-harboring" law from taking effect July 1. She described the law, which would create a felony offense for human smuggling, as having no clear guidance on who it targets or how it will be enforced.

"We believe this law is unconstitutional and an overreach of the state government," Luna emphasized. "For us, SB 392 is ripping apart the very fabric of who we aspire to be as Tennesseans."

Luna noted the lawsuit is backed by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and the American Immigration Council. She added the law could criminalize basic acts of care like churches offering shelter or families living together.

Luna pointed out her organization recently met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife and brother, along with national immigrant rights group CASA, to spotlight his case. She said he was denied fair legal protections, describing the impact it's had on his family.

"We see Kilmar's case as an example of the erosion of due process that is happening to individuals here in Tennessee," Luna outlined. "We had devastating ICE raids earlier in May that resulted in almost 200 people being kidnapped right from their cars in a coordinated operation between the Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE."

Garcia remains in jail as lawyers debate whether the Justice Department can intervene to block his deportation, should he be released ahead of trial on human smuggling charges. Luna is calling on Tennesseans to stand with immigrant communities by volunteering, donating, or joining advocacy efforts. She added immigrants are at the forefront of building a stronger, multiracial democracy.


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Advocates for immigrants' rights in Washington state are voicing concerns about the possible expansion of the H-2A visa program, which they say exploits migrant workers.

Washington is one of five states most dependent on H-2A workers in the country -- whose numbers have ballooned in the last decade to about 33,000.

Edgar Franks, political director for the independent farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, based in Skagit County, said farm labor shortages caused by mass deportations could increase reliance on the program, and H-2A workers often face wage theft and poor housing.

"Being crammed into a small room, or if you're in a place where it's really hot, there's no ventilation or air conditioning," said Franks. "The bathrooms are lacking in sanitation. Sometimes they give mattresses with bed bugs in them."

From 2018 to 2023, the Department of Labor found nearly 70,000 violations against employers of H-2A workers - the most common was wage theft.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., wants to expand the program through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which he says would ease burdens on farmers.

Franks said one of the problems with the program is that workers' visas are connected to a specific employer, giving that employer too much control.

If a worker is laid off or fired, their visa becomes invalid and they must leave the country immediately.

"It's really hard for workers to really speak up," said Franks, "and talk about their wages, or make formal complaints, because of fear of retaliation."

U.S. companies should raise their wages in Mexico, added Franks, which would reduce the need for people to go North.

He also called for workers who have already been working in the state, sometimes for decades, to be legalized.

"If you have workers that are protected and paid well and treated well," said Franks, "that's in the interest of the whole nation. We should recognize that and really step up for farmworkers."


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Protests are planned this Saturday throughout Arizona as organizers mobilize a "nationwide day of defiance" against what they're calling the Trump administration's attacks on civil rights, working families, public education and health care. The "No Kings" protests follow a week of immigration sweeps throughout the country, including in Arizona, that have sparked public outrage against President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This week, the president said people can expect additional ICE raids and warned protestors they can expect to be met with "equal or greater force."

But Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the advocacy organization Indivisible, said there is power in collective action.

"This is coming at a moment when they are illegally sending troops into Los Angeles, intentionally attempting to escalate in order to justify broader crackdowns on dissent that makes it that so much more important for all of us collectively to be in solidarity with our immigrants friends and neighbors, with basic American values," she explained.

The widespread movement will run counter to Trump's projected multi-million-dollar birthday military parade happening in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. More than 100 pro-democracy groups are backing the nationwide No Kings events. To find where protests are happening visit no-kings-dot-org.

Greenberg argued that the Trump administration is actively attempting to chill dissent and create consequences for those who speak out, and claimed the administration is trying to create a false sense of inevitability.

"Their power, fundamentally, is dependent on all of us actually agreeing, actually obeying. If we collectively organize, if we collectively expose that lie for what it is - then we are are going to be in a completely different position and they are not going to be able to get away with the things they are trying to do," she continued.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, reminded people the power of the United States' government is derived from those it represents.

"Not from one man, not from one party, not from a crown," she contended. "That is what was the most important focus of the framers. That is why they shed lots of blood, sweat and tears to actually create this country, the first 13 colonies."