Maureen Maloney, Advocate for No On Ballot Question 4 in MA

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As a part of my Ballot Question Series, I sat down and talked with Maureen Maloney, Advocate for No On 4 in Massachusetts

Maureen Maloney is the Chair of Fair and Secure MA, the committee working to repeal the law they will allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license in MA. Maureen became Angel Mom when her son Matthew was tragically killed by an undocumented drunk driver.

Connect with Fair and Secure MA

www.fairandsecurema.com
Facebook – @fairandsecurema
Twitter – @fairandsecurema

For more information on all things Jimmy Tingle

Transcript – Please note, this Transcript is AI Generated. It has not had the discerning ears of a real human to edit it, as such, there are bound to be a few errors

Jimmy Tingle 0:05
Hello, everybody, this is Jimmy Welcome back to the Jimmy tingle show we have a wonderful show for you today. It is my pleasure to introduce the person advocating leading the charge on no unquestioned for Maureen Maloney is the chair of fair and secure Massachusetts, a committee working to repeal the work and family mobility act. They’re advocating for a no vote on Question four. And in the spirit of fairness, and in the spirit of transparency, we want to offer both sides of the issue. And this Massachusetts ballot, question number four, to our already informed and enlightened listeners, we want to further inform and further enlighten you. So welcome to the show, Maureen Maloney, thank you so much for joining us today.

Maureen Maloney 0:49
Oh, thank you for having me on.

Jimmy Tingle 0:51
It’s our pleasure. We really appreciate you making time and warming. Just explain to the listeners how you got into this particular issue to begin with.

Maureen Maloney 1:00
Well, unfortunately, my son Matthew was killed 11 years ago by an undocumented immigrant. And as a result of his death, I started advocating against undocumented immigration and the magnets that bring them to the United States.

Jimmy Tingle 1:16
And so when this law passed, the legislature was vetoed by Governor Baker, and the larvas, the work and family mobility Act, which allows undocumented people in the state of Massachusetts to apply for driver’s licenses, that will then they’ll have to be insured, they’ll have to pass the test, they’ll have to do everything except produce citizenship papers. It’s basically for non citizens, to allow them to drive in the state of Massachusetts. And you’re working to repeal this and why do you think that should be repealed?

Maureen Maloney 1:49
Well, there’s multiple reasons why it should be repealed. The most concerning to me is road safety. The other concerns are similar to what Governor Baker’s concerns were, one, the Army is not equipped to handle this. The examining of foreign documents and determining their authenticity is really a federal job, federal people should be doing not the RMB workers. And I don’t feel that they’re equipped to do that. And they work very hard. You know, I’m not saying anything negative about them, they work very hard if you’ve been to the RV recently, you know how busy they are. And I think this is an unfair burden that’s being put upon them. And then the other thing is, with the voter, the motor voter laws, when people sign up for a driver’s license, they’re automatically registered to vote unless they opt out of the voting.

Jimmy Tingle 2:42
It preparing for this interview, I went on the Secretary of State’s website, and I looked at that, and apparently the Secretary of State feels that they’re not automatically registered to vote, I just want to give you both sides, because I interviewed the folks on the other side as well. And they were saying you don’t automatically get registered to vote, just like if you’re, you know, if you’re here on a green card or a student visa, you don’t automatically get registered to vote. So anyway, that that the Secretary of State says it’s he’s confident that that’s not going to happen, which is, you know, there’s a lot of gray area, and people don’t know what to believe, because they hear me pros and cons on both sides. That’s why I’m so grateful for you to come on today. And again, as I said before the show our condolences for the loss of your son. It’s a terrible tragedy. And I just want to congratulate you for taking the initiative and getting involved. You know, and doing something and not just sitting on the sidelines, regardless of my feelings or anybody else’s feelings, watching this, and will how they feel about the particular issue. The fact that a citizen would be affected and take the initiative to try to change something is very admirable. And it’s really what our democracy in our country is all about. So, in that respect, thank you very much for your involvement and caring enough to get involved, because it’s not easy, as everybody knows.

Maureen Maloney 4:01
And you know, I do want to give the voters the opportunity to vote on this. This was overwhelmingly passed by the the Democratic legislators that we have, and they overrode Governor Baker’s veto. So I just end up talking to a lot of people. A lot of people do not agree with giving a driver’s license to undocumented immigrants. So this is an opportunity to put it to the voters and let the voters decide.

Jimmy Tingle 4:25
And when you talk about and so the other thing is that you would mentioned and again, this is what the people who support the the idea of the driver’s license say that that the safety issues increase when more people have driver’s licenses and are insured on the roads, and that the chances of hitting runs diminish. And the law enforcement in the state, according to them, has been supportive of this. For those reasons. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Maureen Maloney 4:57
I do. Yes, The law enforcement that supports this many of those chiefs of police, or chiefs of sanctuary cities. So that doesn’t surprise me. I know many police officers, state troopers, sheriffs, who are not in favor of giving driver’s license. Now I realize this driver’s license will make the job of the police officers a lot easier. And I that could be a reason why a lot of them are in favor of it. Because if you don’t have any identification on you, you get brought into the police station and have to be processed. And that’s a much more lengthy procedure than just writing a citation.

Jimmy Tingle 5:34
When you look at the larger picture, given where we’re at with our immigration status, given the fact that we just came out of this pandemic, and so many people, so many of the people who were on the front lines of essential workers during this whole pandemic, were in fact, undocumented workers. You know, working as cashiers working as, you know, all sorts of different industries, whether it’s construction or home health aides, or all sorts of different things babysitter’s et cetera, et cetera. Do you think that’s one of the reasons that more people are in favor of this, of the driver’s license for these folks so they can get to work?

Maureen Maloney 6:15
You know, I have not heard that argument before. But as far as I know, people that are in the country illegally unless they have a work authorization, and that would be given to people that were seeking asylum or refugees. They’re not eligible to work. So a lot of these people working are working off the books and not paying taxes, or they could be using fraudulent social security numbers to

Jimmy Tingle 6:40
work. But at the same time, somebody’s hiring them. I know that if you go into a lot of restaurants, and a lot of, you know, worksites, in the state, and in this country, there are people who are not citizens who are working, who have kids who are honest, hardworking people who are essential to the society. And one of the biggest takeaways from the pandemic is how many people are here, undocumented working, and, you know, and a part of the society and that’s kind of what’s driving this whole driver’s license for these folks. So do you think that’s one of the reasons that people might be supporting it?

Maureen Maloney 7:21
Well, I have to tell you, I have heard from more people who wants to repeal the law, we were able to obtain over 100,000 signatures and 56 days over the summer, which was a Herculean task, because we had a very short timeline to work on. And now we’ve only had like, eight weeks to prepare for the election. So I think they’re I wouldn’t be I wouldn’t be surprised if we get this repealed on November 8, there is a lot of people who do not agree with providing the driver’s license.

Jimmy Tingle 7:53
And tell me, I know you, you’re very active now with immigration reform. Have you been in touch with any of the national organizations that are working for immigration reform? So this so people are brought into the country illegally, and we can expedite that process?

Maureen Maloney 8:10
I have been working on that for many years. Yes, I go down to Washington frequently, I am involved with a lot of different organizations. I met with President Trump when he was in office, and he spoke to the angel parents about undocumented immigration, I work with Tom Holman, Mark Morgan, border patrol, you know, right now, their hands are all being tied. But immigration needs to be in a more controlled, done in a more controlled manner. So I’m not opposed to increasing our legal immigration levels. I just think that people coming across our borders should be vetted. And we should know who they are. And we should only be letting the good people in, we should not be letting the bad actors

Jimmy Tingle 8:53
in. Of course, you know, I don’t want to date myself. But I’m old enough to remember Ronald Reagan. And the 1986 immigration reform bill that they passed, it was historic. And one of the criteria was for people to they had to prove that they were in the country for a certain amount of time. I think it was five years, maybe something like that, maybe even 10 years. And I was thinking as I was preparing for this interview, might these driver’s license for the legitimate people, like you said, for the good people who are hard working, who are playing by the rules, who I tried to get a job, if they have driver’s licenses 234 or five years down the road when immigration reform comes to the national level where it should be on the front burner in the country, given where we are, it should be like a major issue that both parties are trying to enact. I agree when that when that happens. They’ll have driver’s licenses. It’s already legal in 16 other states and they haven’t had the problems of according to the pro side. They haven’t had the problems that we’re in dissipated hit and run accidents more.

Maureen Maloney 10:03
They are having problems they’ve had. They’ve become magnet states for increased the undocumented immigration. They’ve had fraud occurring at their RVs DMVs.

Jimmy Tingle 10:14
Well, I’m glad you bring that up, because the other side says the exact opposite. They said that in the states that have passed it, that hidden ones have declined, etc, etc. So, again, but thank you for bringing that up. That’s why we’re having this discussion. But my point is that when we come to immigration reform, and you can document the fact that yes, I’ve been in Massachusetts since whatever 2018. And here’s my driver’s license from 2022. And I’ve been working at such and such a company for three years, might that not work to everybody’s advantage in the bigger picture?

Maureen Maloney 10:51
I don’t think they need that because first of all, they came across the border, you know, went through Border Patrol, they would have a notice to appear, document that would have the date that they entered the country. If they came in on a visa and overstayed their visa, they would have that visa documented with the date that they entered the country. So I think there are other ways to prove when they entered the country.

Jimmy Tingle 11:15
Well, how can people find out more about you if they want to get involved want to help your cause? Where can they find you?

Maureen Maloney 11:20
So we are fair and secure ma that’s F A irandsecurena.com. We have a Facebook page fair and secure. And they also and I would just hope that everybody would go out on November 8, and vote no on Question four.

Jimmy Tingle 11:39
All right, Marguerite Maloney vote no on Question four from fair and secure, Massachusetts. Maureen, thank you so much for taking the time for meeting with us today. We really appreciate your point of view. And again, our condolences for the loss of your son in 2011.

Maureen Maloney 11:55
Thank you. It’s nice talking with you and your listeners. Nice to talk to

Jimmy Tingle 11:59
you as well. Thank you. Thank you for joining us today. This has been a humor for humanity production. Our mission is your mission Kuma for humanity. Jimmy tingle.com Thank you

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