“Until 2006 undocumented people in Wisconsin could get driver’s licenses,” says ProPublica reporter Melissa Sanchez. That changed when a federal anti-terrorism law called the REAL ID Act was enacted.  Under that law, people had to show proof of citizenship or other legal status to get driver’s licenses. Melissa explains that before it went into effect there was “a rush of undocumented people going to renew their licenses or get licenses. But once those licenses expired, and people were in a situation they’re in today, you have tens of hundreds of people living in the state who are likely driving around without a license.” When Melissa visits a breakroom at a dairy and asks how many people have gotten a ticket for driving without a license, everyone says they have.

In the ProPublica series America’s Dairyland, Risking Workers’ Lives for the Milk We Drink, Melissa and her colleague Maryam Jameel uncover the some of the most dangerous job sites in America–dairy farms. Melissa joins host Douglas Haynes to talk about reality of undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin who can not obtain drivers licenses and the changing opinions of some Wisconsin politicians.

Photo by Dave on Unsplash

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