MAGIC VALLEY — The ACLU of Idaho along with Poder of Idaho launched their Manjenando sin Miedo campaign early this year. With the help of Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, they introduced Senate Bill 1132 during the 2021 legislative session.
The bill would have allowed undocumented people in Idaho to obtain a driver's license, but the bill died in committee. But the organizations are continuing to raise awareness on this issue with an art exhibition at the Twin Falls City Park this weekend.
“We hear a lot about the fear of driving without a license in Idaho. We have one story of a woman, so she’s the only one with a driver’s license, but her husband doesn’t have a driver’s license, and so she has to drive her husband to work, drive her kids to school, and then she goes to work, and she does this every day," said Alejandra Hernandez with Poder of Idaho.
La Lucha Sigue Art Exhibition aims to tell the stories of undocumented people in the Magic Valley having to drive to work and other places without a license.
“It’s mostly to honor the stories and highlight this important issue that we have here in Idaho, and we want this to be a space for community and for the community to be able to see themselves reflected in art," Hernandez said.
During the event, the ACLU of Idaho will also launch their Know Your Rights training where they will have two sessions informing people on their rights in case they are pulled over.
“It kind of puts in perspective a situation, there’s just little things you should keep in mind, in the back of your head in case something happens. I can say for sure I didn’t know my rights before attending one of these trainings, I can imagine most folks probably don’t know their rights," Hernandez said.
Although SB 1132 died during the 2021 legislative session, Poder of Idaho said they received an outpouring amount of support from the community. The bill also had support from the Dairymen's Association.
“We had a lot of support from the community, and we had a lot of people asking what can we do next what is going to happen next? How could we stay involved," Hernandez said.
The event will take place on August 8 from noon to 4 p.m. at The Twin Falls City Park. For more information, you can visit their Facebook page.
