Red Carpet Rollout Boost Learner's Permits

The state has issued more than double the number of learner's permits in the last 10 days than this time last year, after a law went into effect July 1 allowing illegal aliens who live in Massachusetts to apply for driver's licenses.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles has issued 2,800 learner's permits so far in July, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday during a press conference at an RMV location in Boston.

The registry is expecting even more demand in the upcoming week, as residents get back into the swing of things after a popular vacation week for the Fourth of July, said RMV Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie.

In the buildup to the July 1 implementation date, the RMV staffed up and has been translating application materials and permits. The RMV also rolled out the red carpet, extended its hours, open now from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and with seven locations newly open on Saturdays for license-related matters.

Ogilvie said there was not a major increase in the number of people using these extended hours, but that the registry anticipates more demand coming off the holiday week, and as more people know to begin applying for their learner's permits.

Nearly 200,000 people all became eligible to apply for a driver's license at once on July 1.

Ogilvie said she could not provide a breakdown of how many of the 2,800 learner's permits issued over the last week and a half were newly-eligible illegal aliens, as the law, strangely, prohibits the registrar from collecting this data.

"From our perspective, it is all people that have gotten a new permit, whether it's a 16-year-old for the first time, or an adult that is suddenly now obtaining a license," Ogilvie said. - Sam Drysdale/SHNS/ Franklin Observer