Judge blocks New Mexico governor on immigrant driver license
Judge blocks New Mexico governor on immigrant driver licenses
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 7:26 p.m. CDT
SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - A New Mexico judge blocked on Wednesday a drive by the state's Republican governor to make it harder for illegal immigrants to keep driver's licenses in the state.
Governor Susana Martinez's administration last month ordered the state to reverify the physical residency of foreign nationals who hold New Mexico driver's licenses in order to get or keep their licenses.
But District Court Judge Sarah Singleton in Santa Fe issued a temporary restraining order blocking the program, arguing in a brief ruling that "irreparable injury" would occur from "constitutional deprivations to the applicants."
Martinez, a former prosecutor who made a crackdown on illegal immigration the centerpiece of her election campaign, issued the requirement after a bill to ban licenses for illegal immigrants died in the state legislature earlier this year.
Some officials fear the state's lenient driver's license rules were making New Mexico a magnet for illegal immigrants from out-of-state seeking licenses unavailable to them where they live. They say the measure would cut down on fraud.
Opponents of the recertification process, however, have argued it unfairly singles out individuals based on whether they were born in the United States.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which had sued to block the recertification, said the injunction was an "important protection for the constitutional rights of all New Mexicans", especially those it said were unfairly targeted.
It has described the governor's move as unconstitutional and a waste of state money.
"MALDEF will continue to fight throughout this legal process to obtain a final end to this licensing scheme and to restore the rule of law," Martha Gomez, a staff attorney for MALDEF, said in a statement.
New Mexico is one of three states, including Utah and Washington, that allow illegal immigrants to lawfully obtain driver's licenses provided they show proof of residency.
The other states bordering Mexico -- Arizona, California and Texas -- do not allow it.
Governor Martinez' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
A spokesman for the governor had previously described the lawsuit as an effort to stop the state's work in confronting "the identity theft and fraud that exists due to the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants."
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