Judge says Ariz. 'dreamers' can keep driver's licenses
"Dreamers" celebrated an appeals court decision ordering Arizona to grant them driver's licenses.(Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)PHOENIX — It's been a month since a federal judge issued a temporary injunction that forced Arizona to start allowing young immigrants known as "dreamers" to apply for driver's licenses, ending former Gov. Jan Brewer's 2 1/2-year-old ban.Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Campbell made the injunction permanent.In doing so, Campbell dealt another blow to the state's argument that dreamers who receive work permits through President Barack Obama's deferred-action program are not legally entitled to get licences.In issuing the permanent injunction, Campbell sided with dreamers who sued the state to overturn Brewer's executive order denying driver's licenses to any dreamers who receive work permits through Obama's program.The state began allowing dreamers with work permits to apply for driver's licenses on Dec. 22."This means they can keep their licenses," said Araceli Martinez-Olguin, a senior attorney for the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project.More than 20,000 dreamers in Arizona have received work permits through Obama's program, which defers deportation for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as minors.Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups that sued on behalf of the dreamers had argued that Arizona's license ban should be permanently blocked because it discriminates against dreamers granted work permits through Obama's program, while granting driver's licenses to other non-citizens who receive similar work permits.Campbell agreed.The lawyers had also argued that Brewer's ban had "irreparably harmed" dreamers by limiting their access to jobs and forcing them to drive illegally.Last SlideNext SlideLawyers for the state, however, had argued that Obama's program was created outside of immigration laws passed by Congress and therefore immigrants who receive work permits through the program do not have legal presence in the U.S. As a result, they are not eligible to apply for driver's licenses under state law, which requires that applicants prove they have legal presence."It's heartening that the judge saw through" that argument, Martinez-Olguin said.The legal battle may not yet be over. Before leaving office earlier this month, Brewer had vowed to try and take the case to the Supreme Court.Gov. Doug Ducey, who took office Jan. 5, has not indicated whether he will continue the legal battle, which has cost Arizona more than $1.5 million.His spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato, said Ducey was reviewing the ruling.
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