Bills that would require Michigan driver's licenses and state ID cards to show certain immigration statuses are under consideration in a state House committee.
The legislation would prohibit the secretary of state from issuing license or ID cards that expire after the duration of an immigrant's legal status.
It also would codify existing procedure for noncitizens with temporary lawful status in the U.S., such as DACA recipients or foreign college students, to require their licenses or cards display that they are a "limited-term" resident.
An analysis of the bill by the House says, under the proposed changes, "the card or license would have to be visually marked to indicate that it is issued to an individual who is not a citizen of the United States."
Supporters of the bills, which were introduced by Republican Reps. Pamela Hornberger and Beth Griffin, say they would revise Michigan law to comply with federal restrictions on state licenses and cards for temporary residents.
Critics of the bill say it would lead to profiling of legal immigrants and is redundant since the Secretary of State already issues the license based on the duration of a person's immigration.
This story has been corrected to reflect that the language requiring that non-citizen driver's licenses and IDs be marked was stripped from the bill before it was moved to the full House. An update can be found here.
