Posted: Saturday, May 2, 2015 2:00 pm

By JOE DUGGAN World-Herald News Service

LINCOLN — Nebraska's governor won't reveal his veto plans if state lawmakers pass legislation granting driver's licenses to young immigrants who came to the country illegally through no fault of their own.

But Gov. Pete Ricketts has not softened on illegal immigration despite rapidly shifting politics surrounding the driver's license bill. In recent weeks, the state's leading business groups have called for the bill's passage, as has Jean Stothert, the Republican mayor of Omaha.

"As a matter of principle, I don't believe in giving benefits to people who came here illegally," the Republican governor said Friday in an interview with The World-Herald.

Nebraska is the only state in the nation to deny driver's licenses to a category of young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, was started in 2012 with an executive order by the president.

Legislative Bill 623 would reverse a directive by former Gov. Dave Heineman to deny licenses to DACA immigrants.

The bill has yet to be debated in the Nebraska Legislature, but it already has the support of a veto-proof majority of 31 senators, a number that includes many Republicans, according to Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha, who introduced the measure. Supporters also say they're confident they could thwart an effort to kill the legislation with a filibuster, which requires 33 votes.

Two weeks ago, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce threw support behind the measure. Ricketts, a former corporate executive who strongly advocates for pro-business public policy, said he respects their position, but he doesn't share it.

"I don't expect to agree with anybody 100 percent of the time, even my friends," he said. "Their perspectives have not changed mine."

The governor said Friday the DACA program may give the immigrants legal presence, but not lawful status. Nebraska law prohibits public benefits from going to people who lack lawful status, he added.

It was the same legal position offered by state attorneys earlier in the week to defend the policy in court. A trial in a lawsuit brought by three DACA immigrants was held in Lancaster County District Court, although a decision is not expected for weeks or months.

Attorneys for the immigrants have challenged Nebraska's policy as unconstitutional because the state has singled out the DACA recipients for driver's license denial.

Ricketts also argued Friday that because the DACA program came about through an executive order, it could just as easily end when the next administration takes office in 2017.

The governor criticized President Barack Obama for "creating a humanitarian crisis" with the DACA program. Ricketts was referring to last summer's flood of unaccompanied minor immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico and Central America.

Based on interviews of the immigrants by border patrol agents, more than 90 percent said they thought U.S. immigration law would allow children to stay.

Advocates for the minor immigrants said many were fleeing extreme levels of violence in their home countries.

Supporters of the DACA immigrants make the point that they were brought here as children, they grew up in the state and were educated in Nebraska schools. They speak English, they can navigate two cultures and they hold Social Security numbers and employment documents while in the DACA program.

"I certainly understand the sympathetic circumstances these folks are in," Ricketts said.

At the same time, the governor said he's sympathetic to those who believe benefits paid for by Nebraska taxpayers should be reserved for legal residents.

"I've traveled the state in the last year and a half, probably more so than any other Nebraskan," he said. "And I can tell you, by and large, Nebraskans don't believe in giving benefits to those who came here illegally."

A World-Herald poll in December found that 57 percent of Nebraskans opposed a more recent executive order by the president that removed the threat of deportation for 5 million illegal immigrants. That deferred action program is currently on hold, pending a court challenge.

But in the same poll, a clear majority of Nebraskans — 63 percent — said they would support allowing illegal immigrants to stay in this country and obtain citizenship if they passed certain tests, including a criminal background check.

http://www.starherald.com/news/regio...416f2c6c0.html