Thread: North Carolina Suspends Issuing Driver's Licenses to DREAMers

Published January 10, 2013
Fox News Latino

Charlotte, North Carolina – The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has temporarily suspended issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as youngsters and who now qualify for a new program allowing them to stay and work in the country.

The program, commonly known as “deferred action” or DACA, is aimed at immigrants meant to benefit from the long-stalled DREAM Act, which provides a path to legalization for certain undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. The Deferred Action policy lets these immigrants seek a renewable, two-year reprieve from deportation if they meet specific age, residency and education requirements.

The DMV is not processing driver's licenses for the Deferred Action beneficiaries "until (U.S.) Citizenship and Immigration Services defines what documents are acceptable as proof of legal residence in the country," spokesperson Margarett Howell told news agency EFE Wednesday.

But Homeland Security Department spokesperson Steve Blando told EFE that "the states, and not the federal government, decide whom to authorize driver's licenses for."

"All this confusion and change of policy in the North Carolina DMV is occurring when the new administration of the department by incoming Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is beginning," said Jose Rico, a member of the immigrant advocacy group, NC DREAM Team.

It is calculated that of 13,000 out of the 51,000 DREAMers in North Carolina who could benefit from Deferred Action.

In August, the DMV's Howell told McClatchy Newspapers that people who have qualified for Deferred Action would be eligible for driver's licenses.

But the rule change in North Carolina is still not clear and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union have begun monitoring the situation.

Four states -- Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska and Arizona --- have decided not to issue driver's licenses to Deferred Action beneficiaries.

In Iowa, a legislative committee is hearing arguments on an Iowa Department of Transportation policy that prohibits driver's licenses for certain young immigrants allowed by a new federal rule to live here.

The Administrative Rules Review Committee is considering Wednesday the DOT rule which doesn't allow driver's licenses or identification cards to be issued to immigrants brought into the U.S. as children by parents who were not legal residents.

The Iowa DOT says the policy doesn't make the immigrants legal citizens so it can't issue licenses.

The ACLU and other civil rights groups are fighting the DOT saying licenses should be granted.

North Carolina Suspends Issuing Driver's Licenses to DREAMers | Fox News Latino

"All this confusion and change of policy in the North Carolina DMV is occurring when the new administration of the department by incoming Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is beginning," said Jose Rico, a member of the immigrant advocacy group, NC DREAM Team.

OMG! Could this be shades of things to come in NC? I voted for McCrory not because I liked him ( after all Charlotte is a sanctuary City and he was the Mayor) but because I detested Bev Perdue and how she was continuing the tradition of giving the invaders everything they wanted!

IF it really is because of Pat McCrory, I say thank you, thank you, thank you... Governor! You just gave the entire State a huge gift. And Jose? He ain't "incoming" he's been sworn in! And if he caused this to happen, he'll be Governor as long as we can keep him!

The ACLU and other civil rights groups are fighting the DOT saying licenses should be granted.

Typical ACLU. Why aren't they up in Dearborn fighting the call to prayers that are broadcast over loudspeakers?

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/content/north-c...dreamers-1272/

Posted: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 9:54 pm | Updated: 10:16 pm, Tue Jan 15, 2013.

Bertrand M. Gutierrez/Winston-Salem Journal

A new battle line may be forming in North Carolina between state and federal governments over illegal immigration – this time at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles.

At issue is whether the DMV is required to issue a driver’s license to an immigrant who has received a federal two-year reprieve from deportation under a program, known as Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, implemented in August by President Barack Obama.

Deferred action does not change a person’s residency status. It’s not like a green card or temporary visa. It just blocks the possibility of deportation for two years. But it also allows the recipient to get a Social Security card and work permit.

Until about a week ago, the work permit, known as an Employment Authorization Card, or EAD, had been one of the documents that the DMV accepted for proof of residency from non-U.S. citizens.

But the DMV stopped accepting the work permit from those who have gotten deferred action, a program the DMV refers to as C33, until the legal issue can be cleared up. Mike Robertson, the now-retired DMV commissioner, asked in a Sept. 10 letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper to issue an opinion on whether the federal DACA program conforms with North Carolina law in relation to proof of residency.

“Legal guidance from your office is necessary to clarify whether an EAD carrying a code of C33 constitutes a document demonstrating the bearer’s ‘legal presence’ in the United States as that phrase is used in N.C. General Statute 20-7(s),” Robertson wrote.

Cooper’s response will be watched closely by those who favor stricter immigration policies as well as other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

Raul Pinto, an ACLU-NC staff attorney, would not rule out legal action.

“We are looking at all possible options, and we want to hear from anyone affected by this policy,” Pinto said. “They are carving out an exception and it is discriminatory.”

Meanwhile, immigrant advocacy groups statewide have been asking those affected to contact the ACLU, according to Wooten Gough, who helped start the local immigrant advocacy group in Yadkin County known as El Cambio (The Change) in 2010.

“If it comes down to it, and they really want to block licenses, El Cambio will not sit down quietly and let that happen,” Gough said.

Since August, when the Obama administration started offering the two-year reprieve from deportation, more than 13,000 immigrants in North Carolina have submitted an application to U.S. Citizenship and Customs Enforcement for it, according to USCIS statistics up to Dec. 13. The state was ranked sixth nationwide behind California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois as having the most applications.

Nationwide, nearly 368,000 applications have been sent to USCIS; of those, nearly 356,000 have been approved.

To qualify for the DACA program, the applicant must have no serious criminal record. The program blocks the deportation of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before they turned 16, are not older than 31, have graduated from high school, attended college or served in the military.

Meanwhile, licenses that had been issued to DACA recipients are getting revoked.

An internal review of DMV records showed that 13 licenses had been unintentionally issued to applicants in the DACA program, said Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman. “To maintain consistency of policy, the DMV mailed notification to these applicants on Jan. 11 letting them know their licenses were issued in error; therefore, their driving privileges have been cancelled,” she said.

Cooper’s answer is expected by the end of the month, according to officials with the Attorney General’s Office.

“Attorneys with our office are researching this issue and gathering relevant information, including from Homeland Security, and hope to have an opinion written within a week or so,” said Noelle Talley, the office’s spokeswoman.

DMV officials stop issuing licenses to some immigrants as they await AG opinion - Winston-Salem Journal: Local News

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