Judge hears suit on Arizona's ban on immigrant driver's licenses

By Brad Poole and Tim Gaynor

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Lawyers asked a federal judge on Friday to prevent Arizona from denying driver's licenses to young illegal immigrants granted temporary legal status by the government in the Southwestern state's latest court clash over the Obama administration's immigration policies.

Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit in District Court in Phoenix in November against Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and two state transport department officials on behalf of five immigrants from Mexico who qualify for deferred deportation status under President Barack Obama's program.

The suit challenges the legality of an executive order issued by Brewer in August that denied the young migrants licenses, arguing that the government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program did not give them lawful status or entitle them to public benefits.

On Friday, Judge David Campbell heard brief arguments in which the plaintiffs sought an injunction ordering Arizona to issue the licenses pending the court's ruling. The state asked for the case to be dismissed.

At issue is whether the plaintiffs' deferred deportation status constitutes federal "authorization" to be in the United States, a requirement under Arizona law for immigrants to obtain drivers licenses.

"Every non-citizen with a work permit is considered to be authorized, with one exception - everyone but DACA," Jennifer Chang Newell, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the plaintiffs, told the court.

Newell argued that Brewer's policy amounts to an attempt by the state of Arizona to determine immigration status, a power reserved only for the federal government.

The court battle is the latest for Brewer, a Republican who has become a major antagonist of Obama's Democratic administration and its immigration policies.

About 40 states and the District of Columbia have confirmed they are granting driver's licenses or plan to do so for undocumented youths who received a short-term reprieve from Obama under the program in June.

While Republicans in some U.S. states have opposed drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, only Arizona and Nebraska have said outright that young immigrants are not eligible.

'NO LAWFUL OR AUTHORIZED STATUS'

Under Obama's program, immigrants who came to the United States as children and meet certain other criteria can apply for a work permit for a renewable period of two years. They also can obtain Social Security numbers.

An estimated 1.7 million youths are potentially eligible for the program, of whom about 80,000 live in Arizona. As of mid-February, about 200,000 applicants nationwide been granted deferred action, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

They are considered to be lawfully present in the United States during that period, although they do not have full legal status. Brewer maintains that the president's policy did not "confer upon them any lawful or authorized status and does not entitle them to any additional public benefits."

Attorney Doug Northrop, representing the state, told the court there is no federal definition of "authorized" presence, and that the plaintiffs do not have "lawful" status.

Arizona, he argued, is not determining migrants' status, but is simply ruling that they cannot have drivers licenses. The state "didn't create their own status. They just said (they) don't meet it," he told the judge.

Campbell said he would rule on the issue in the coming weeks.

In 2010, Brewer signed into law a controversial bill cracking down on illegal immigrants and setting up the clash with the Obama administration. The centerpiece of the Arizona law, which requires police to check the immigration status of every person they stop if they suspect they are in the country illegally, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.

Obama is pushing Congress to pass a bill overhauling the U.S. immigration system, granting millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, as well as tightening security on the border with Mexico.

Democrats and Republicans in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are close to completing work on a draft bill.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Christopher Wilson)

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N.C. nixes pink-striped licenses for immigrants

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina said Thursday it is abandoning its plan to issue pink-striped driver's licenses to certain illegal immigrants, beset by mounting criticism of the specially designed IDs.

The state learned that such licenses are easier and more efficient to produce if they're similar to the traditional licenses issued to other drivers, said spokesman Mike Charbonneau at the state Transportation Department.

"My understanding is that when we're looking at that design, at the end of the day, we had to make sure we were following the letter of the law in the most efficient way possible," Charbonneau said.

In place of the proposed pink-striped design, the license is to look like the regular license issued to citizens save for words added in bold red letters: ""LEGAL PRESENCE / NO LAWFUL STATUS" and "LIMITED TERM."

The controversial original proposal also had included the phrase "NO LAWFUL STATUS."

The state will begin issuing the licenses Monday to young adults participating in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The Obama administration initiative grants valid federal work permits to qualified applicants brought as children to the U.S. without legal authorization.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Hispanic groups and others had criticized the pink-striped design proposal as singling out holders of that identification for possible discrimination and humiliation.

Jewish leaders also joined the outcry. Four rabbis had earlier made plans to hand-deliver a letter Friday to Gov. Pat McCrory asking him to scrap the pink-striped design. They said they would still deliver the letter anyway. It was signed by more than 70 Jewish leaders nationwide.

"Our efforts do not end when major discrimination turns into minor discrimination; it ends when we are 100 percent positive that discriminatory policies will not go into effect in our state," said Rabbi Eric Solomon of Raleigh's Beth Meyer Synagogue.

They said they were especially disturbed that the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles would begin issuing the licenses Monday, eve of the Jewish holiday Passover.

The state Attorney's General Office had said in January that state law requires the state to issue drivers' licenses to qualified applicants brought to the U.S. as children without legal authorization. State transportation officials had said they would abide by that decision, then unveiled the specially designed licenses.

McCrory had previously supported pink-striped licenses, saying in February that he signed off on what he called the "pragmatic compromise" unveiled by Transportation Secretary Tony Tata. McCrory had said the licenses must be clearly marked to prevent the bearer from accessing government services or registering to vote.

A McCrory spokeswoman said Thursday the governor supports the new design.

Raul Pinto, staff attorney with the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the official decision to adopt a standard blue-striped license was "a huge step in the right direction."

But Pinto said his group still opposes the "NO LAWFUL STATUS" tag on the licenses and will keep monitoring whether it's "going to affect people in their everyday lives."

Democratic state Rep. Rick Glazier, who opposed the pink-striped design by co-sponsoring a bill against it in the General Assembly, said the pressure of public opinion appeared to be a factor in the change of plans.

The pink-striped license was "inherently discriminatory on its face" and would have humiliated any holder, Glazier added.

The Division of Motor Vehicles sent out a news release about plans to begin issuing the licenses starting Monday, but without mentioning the decision in the release. The design change was only evident in an attachment to the emailed release.

Jose Torres-Don, 25, of Carrboro, who is applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said he didn't really care about the style or color of the driver's license he receives.

A member of the NC Dream Team — a group that advocates for young people brought to the U.S. unlawfully and seeking a path to citizenship — Torres-Don said he just hopes the license uproar brings favorable attention to the plight of young people seeking proper documentation.

"What we ultimately seek is to drive without fear," he said. "We want to have a real conversation about how (being) undocumented is a problem."

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Online:

To view new design: https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=7952

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Martha Waggoner can be reached at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc

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