A newly resurfaced video clip is exposing Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s past advocacy for granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens – a move he brazenly equated to fighting “discrimination.”
In a 2018 campaign interview, El-Sayed declared, "We’ve got to make sure that in this state we are not discriminating against documentation status. Right now, if you’re undocumented, you don’t get access to a driver’s license. You’re stuck."
At the time, El-Sayed was campaigning for governor. Now, as he seeks a U.S. Senate seat, this unearthed footage reveals a deep-seated progressive ideology that undermines the very concept of legal residency.
This policy position directly conflicts with the foundational principles of immigration law and national security. As Hans von Spakovsky, an elections expert for Advancing American Freedom, powerfully articulates, a state driver’s license in America serves as a de facto national ID.
"Issuing driver's licenses to aliens will help them in all the instances where a license is needed, from opening bank accounts to all types of other transactions," Spakovsky stated, underscoring how easily such a document enables illegal residents to access a multitude of public and private services.
He further emphasized that critical employment eligibility paperwork, like I-9 forms, often requires little more than a driver’s license, turning a privilege into a backdoor pathway to unearned legitimacy.
El-Sayed doubled down on his claim, asserting, "You don’t get access to a lot of the basic things that the state offers everybody else, and I think that’s ridiculous and so we’ve got to stop discriminating that way." To equate the rightful enforcement of immigration laws with "discrimination" is a twisted interpretation that only emboldens the ongoing border crisis and insults law-abiding citizens.
Spakovsky’s analysis provides a stark contrast: "The key to getting aliens to self-deport would be to ensure that they cannot rent apartments, open bank accounts and take all of the other steps necessary to live and work in the U.S. Providing them driver's licenses is a huge step in allowing them to easily live and work in the United States."
Despite attempting to distance himself from "far-left" labels, El-Sayed’s political agenda consistently mirrors the most extreme elements of the Democratic Party. He champions universal government control in areas like healthcare, advocating for "Medicare for all," opposes corporate tax incentives, and demands tuition-free higher education.
He proudly declared that "Government ought to be available to set an equal playing field for everybody and to offer those basic things that everybody needs and deserves," a sentiment that extends, apparently, to those who have disregarded U.S. immigration laws.
El-Sayed's campaign has notably dodged inquiries regarding the extent to which government services should be extended to non-residents, and whether facilitating driver's licenses for illegal immigrants amounts to a de facto endorsement of their unlawful presence.
As El-Sayed battles Rep. Haley Stevens in Tuesday evening’s state primaries, Michigan voters will decide if a candidate who champions open-border-like policies and progressive overreach is truly fit to represent their interests in the U.S. Senate. The stakes for national sovereignty and the integrity of American citizenship could not be clearer.
