Thread: OH: LULAC sues over canceling vehicle regis

Latino group sues to stop state from canceling vehicle registrations

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 10:40 AM
By Randy Ludlow

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

• Documents links:
  *League of United Latin American Citizens suit
  *Preliminary injunction request

A Latino group is asking a judge to prevent state officials from canceling the registrations of more than 40,000 vehicles apparently driven by undocumented immigrants.

The League of United Latin American Citizens filed the lawsuit against state officials in Franklin County Common Pleas Court this morning.

The legal action comes two weeks before the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles plans to revoke the potentially fraudulently obtained license plates of those who cannot provide proof of legal U.S. residency.

The lawsuit, which seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from canceling registrations effective Dec. 8, claims the move is an illegal state foray into immigration matters, which are a federal responsibility. A hearing on the requested injunction is set for Dec. 1

Lawyers were met with applause from a largely Latino crowd of 200 people late this morning as they provided details of the lawsuit at Downtown's Trinity Episcopal Church.

Joseph Mas, who represents Latino business owners supporting the legal action, declared that the BMV move was illegally targeted at immigrants. "This is an unconstitutional attempt to enforce immigration laws at the state level," he said.

Dennis Muchnicki, a Dublin immigration lawyer who filed the lawsuit bankrolled by hundreds of donations from Ohio's Latino community, accused the state of "bureaucratic whim and caprice" that will harm thousands of families.

Undocumented immigrants face the loss of their cars and jobs without the ability to drive, the lawyers said. They said families, many with American-born children who are U.S. citizens, could be forced to relocate or separate,

The threat to cancel registrations is not aimed at Latino immigrants but is an attempt to deter fraud and ensure vehicle registrations are "secure and reliable," said BMV spokeswoman Lindsay Komlanc.

The lawsuit also asserts that the vehicles driven by immigrants were legally registered under state regulations and laws in effect at the time and that state law does not permit registrations to be canceled because they lack an accompanying Social Security number.

On Oct. 8, the BMV mailed 47,457 letters informing vehicle owners that their registrations would be canceled unless they provide a valid Ohio driver license or identification card or proof of a Social Security number.

As of last week, 2,245 people had visited BMV offices and provided proof of legal U.S. residency.

The state crackdown came after The Dispatch revealed that a loophole in Ohio law allowed thousands of undocumented workers to register vehicles even though many did not have valid Social Security numbers or vehicle insurance.

The immigrants hired "runners" with legal U.S. residency to register their cars with falsified power-of-attorney forms that did not require verification of the identity of vehicle owners. The forms only required Social Security numbers, which state officials could not verify.

The state enacted a policy on Aug. 24 requiring runners to provide the driver's license or state ID numbers or proof of Social Security numbers of people for whom they are registering vehicles.

The policy had been scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, 2008, but former Public Safety Director Henry Guzman delayed the changes after meeting with largely Latino business owners worried about financial losses.

Unknown to Guzman, officials said, several runners who collected fees of more than $100 for registering vehicles for immigrants attended the meeting.

Guzman said the planned changes, which he requested, were flawed and needed more work. He and then-State Highway Patrol Col. Richard Collins resigned in August amid an ongoing feud.

The office of Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating the delay in enacting the policy and the role of "runners" in registering vehicles.

The suit filed today names Gov. Ted Strickland, Public Safety Director Cathy Collins-Taylor and Carolyn Williams, acting BMV registrar, as defendants.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/lo ... ml?sid=101

Tough luck LULAC, Ohio has every right to enforce state laws.

The state crackdown came after The Dispatch revealed that a loophole in Ohio law allowed thousands of undocumented workers to register vehicles even though many did not have valid Social Security numbers or vehicle insurance.

Close that puppy right up!

EVERYONE has to provide the proper ID, no exceptions. Provide your ID or get out.

The lawsuit, which seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from canceling registrations effective Dec. 8, claims the move is an illegal state foray into immigration matters, which are a federal responsibility.

The state sets the requirements for issuing license plates. If you are an American citizen that never got a SSN, it is the right of the state to deny you vehicle registration. What a waste of money and court time. And hopefully the judge will see this is just another superfluous lawsuit to gain more power and notice for LULAC.

Will someone go after LULAC for aiding and abetting illegal aliens?

We need a real Department of Justice in this country!

Dixie

The IA's used "Falsified Power of Attorney" to get their vehicles registered so why can't the police arrest them for fraud or at least notify ICE of this IA fraud ? FORTY THOUSAND, this is a HUGH amount of identifiable ID theft being perped in Ohio and LULAC has the nerve to bring a law suit ??

Another example of Obama & Napolitano's poor IA's hiding in the shadows. NOT