Thread: DMV Can Deny Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

Court: DMV Can Deny Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

NEW YORK -- A state appeals court ruled Thursday that New York's Department of Motor Vehicles can require immigrants to prove they are in this country legally before they are allowed to have driver's licenses.

The 5-0 ruling by the Appellate Division in Manhattan reversed a decision by Justice Karen S. Smith, who ordered the DMV last year to stop denying driver's licenses to immigrants who did not have Social Security numbers or proof they were in the country legally.

In dismissing the illegal immigrants' complaint, the appeals court said Smith had erred in barring the identity procedures DMV Commissioner Raymond Martinez put in place and said they were ``within his authority and enforceable.''

Foster Maer, a lawyer for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented the plaintiffs, said his group was reviewing the decision and considering asking permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals in Albany.

The DMV began lifting the licenses of illegal immigrants in 2004, a move that their advocates said at the time would cost as many 300,000 people in New York their driving privileges. They said then the procedure had already led to the suspension of about 7,000 licenses.

Immigrant advocates said at the time that denial of the licenses would deprive some of the ability to earn a living and that others would drive illegally.

State officials defended the identity procedures, saying they were put in place to combat fraud and terrorism. The appeals court noted cases in which one Social Security number was used to get licenses for 57 people and another in which one taxicab driver used two numbers to get two licenses, one for insurance and the other for traffic tickets.

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in August 2004, naming Martinez as a defendant. The plaintiffs were three named people and five who sued as John Does because they are undocumented and feared legal consequences if identified. All have lived in New York City for periods ranging from five to 20 years.

Their lawsuit said the commissioner violated their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law and had acted beyond the scope of his authority by enforcing immigration laws.

Smith agreed with the plaintiffs and ruled in their favor in May 2005, but the appeals judges wrote on Thursday, ``This court finds that the identity procedures implemented by Commissioner Martinez are authorized by state and federal statutes and further a legitimate state interest.''

Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund lawyers said last year that New York was one of about a dozen states that did not require a person to be a legal resident to get a driver's license.


http://1010wins.com/pages/53824.php

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1339