In the dark: RMV records restricted with immigrant driver’s license law

The state division of transportation will not launch driving data to the general public after the implementation of an immigrant driver’s license regulation this summer time, which has given the company cowl to disclaim data requests for the paperwork.

The data have been thought of public and simply accessible from MassDOT earlier than July 1, the beginning date of the motive force’s license regulation, which offers a pathway to authorized driving for immigrants who can present some type of documentation.

But language included within the regulation bars the state from releasing any info associated to a Massachusetts license holder. The statute says the data shall “neither be a public record nor disclosed by the registrar, except as authorized by regulations promulgated by the attorney general.”

The Herald requested on Aug. 21 all metropolis councilors’ and Mayor Michelle Wu’s driving data to check whether or not the paperwork remained publicly accessible below the brand new regulation. In a letter Thursday, MassDOT Records Access Officer William Doyle denied the request, citing the state’s statutory exemption to the data regulation.

Access to driving data have lengthy supplied the general public perception into state and native officers’ conduct on the street, together with when Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara crashed right into a Jamaica Plain house.

Supporters of the license regulation, which they dubbed the Work and Family Mobility Act, have mentioned it’s essential to maintain the data of a Massachusetts driver non-public to guard their immigration standing, or lack thereof.

Attorney Brian Simoneau, an skilled in RMV affairs, mentioned he “totally wholeheartedly” helps defending somebody’s immigration standing however identified the data shouldn’t be discovered on driving data that the RMV can now withhold.

Simoneau mentioned it has been irritating as a lawyer to not be capable of entry purchasers’ driving data, which “makes it very difficult to represent a client when you don’t know their history.” Customers can entry their very own data on-line via the RMV, however Simoneau mentioned the method may be cumbersome and labor intensive at instances.

“There’s no need for this because a person’s immigration status or lack of status is not reflected on his or her driving record,” Simoneau informed the Herald. “I don’t think the refusal to release these driving records impacts the purpose of the WFMA. It still maintains the privacy of the person’s immigration status. So I don’t think that there’s a need for this.”

The driver’s license regulation permits residents with out lawful proof of presence within the United States to hunt out a driver’s license from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The law-enforcement backed regulation has been hailed by supporters as a approach to verify all drivers are insured and street security is taught to all motorists.

Those who’re within the U.S. with out authorized standing — folks whose visas have expired or who crossed the border illegally, amongst others — can acquire a typical, five-year Massachusetts driver’s license if they supply at the very least two paperwork proving their id and date of delivery.

The regulation says driving data might be launched if laws enable for his or her dissemination.

But guidelines drafted by Attorney General Andrea Campbell and applied this summer time “do not alter [the law’s] resumption that ‘information provided by or relating to the holder of a Massachusetts license issued under section 8 of said chapter 90’ may no longer be treated as public records,” Doyle wrote.

Simoneau mentioned there may be “a way to fix this.”

“It can be rectified by the enactment of a regulation by the Attorney General’s Office to allow third party access to these records,” he mentioned.

Doyle mentioned some have already tried to enchantment a denied request for driving data.

In an Aug. 31 letter, the Secretary of State’s supervisor of data cemented using the statutory exemption to the general public data regulation as a cause to withhold driving data.

“A governmental entity may use the statutory exemption as a basis for withholding requested materials where the language of the exempting statute relied upon expressly or necessarily implies that the public’s right to inspect records under the public records law is restricted,” the letter mentioned. “… I find that MassDOT may permissibly withhold the requested records from disclosure.”