Arizona Governor Jan Brewer issued an executive order banning undocumented immigrants including those under DACA program from receiving their driver’s licenses. The move sparked outrage in the Hispanic and immigrant communities which led to filing of a lawsuit against Brewer in the Federal Court.
Brewer had issued the order in August 2012 denying driver’s licenses to the undocumented cleared for a temporary residential status under the federal government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. However, on Tuesday, September 17 she expanded the ban to include immigrants, who are victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence granted deferred action on humanitarian grounds.
Nearly 17,000 undocumented immigrants have received deferred action since the implementation of the program last year. Brewer announced the change in policy in pleadings filed in federal court where Brewer was accused of discrimination against undocumented individuals.
The ACLU and other civil rights groups filed a suit on behalf of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition seeking a preliminary injunction against the governor’s order on the grounds that it violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.
After a ruling against the Governor’s order, the policy was extended to all undocumented immigrants and not just DACA recipients.
