The state and immigration rights advocates were back in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today for a hearing against a district court judge’s injunction that allowed undocumented youth protected under Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival to get licenses in Arizona.
After years in and out of court, U.S. District Judge David Campbell issued in December a preliminary injunction that immediately allowed about 22,000 DREAMers to get licenses. The following month he made it permanent: Arizona cannot deny DREAMers driver’s licenses. Since 2012, federal courts continuously ruled against former governor Jan Brewer’s executive action, which she announced the same day the DACA program went into effect. The Ninth Circuit has even said in the past that the policy is likely unconstitutional and that it shouldn’t proceed.
In Dec. 17, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy rejected a last-minute appeal by the state, and that’s when Campbell issued a preliminary injunction. DREAMers began getting licenses five days later.
In February, we heard news that Arizona’s new Attorney General Mark Brnovich would continue appealing.
Nicholas Espíritu, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, which is one of the plaintiffs in the case, says they wanted the court to know that Arizona’s rationale hasn’t changed. “They continue to think that they have the right to discriminate against DACA recipients, and continue to justify their desire to discriminate. The Supreme Court has said that Arizona can’t discriminate against DREAMers, and we feel the Ninth Circuit will continue to hold that.”
Prior to that, in July of 2014, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the policy was probably unconstitutional and that DREAMers—who have permission from the federal government to live and work in the U.S.—are “seriously impaired by their inability to get driver’s licenses,” a statement by the National Immigration Law Center said.
Arizona is the only state in the country continuing to resist licenses for DREAMers.
It’s unclear when the parties will hear from the Ninth Circuit, but immigration advocates are confident this will be another legal failure for Arizona.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2015.
Considering this rewarding of criminals has been put on hold by a federal TX judge and this is a state issued document not a federal, I would tell this judge to kiss my AZ a$$.
If we do end up being forced to be complaint to these law breakers, the state should put on the license, “not to be accepted as identification”.
Your tax dollars at “work”. Brought to you by the State Legislature that believes education is only for rich, white people and that private prisons are the future for the rest.
Brought to you by the same thinking that Muslims can not pay interest on home mortgages so Seattle is demanding banks give the “Sharia Law” compliant loans with no interest.
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2015/07/seattle-mayor-offers-plan-to-help-followers-of.html
Our laws are being turned upside down for invaders.
Proving that Arizona is “governed” by racist ideologues who would rather piss away taxpayer dollars on quixotic campaigns against rationality and reality than actually figure out a way to “govern”…
Chetdude, apparently your reality is another man’s lawlessness. And pissing away taxpayers dollars? That rationale is ludicrous.
Why is it that if I disagree with this article I magically become a racist who loves the Koch brothers and private prisons?
To clarify, I don’t love the Koch brothers and I highly disapprove of private prisons and want our public schools, community colleges and state colleges to be funded.
I don’t care if an illegal immigrant is here from Mexico, Sweden, India or Iceland, if they are here without paying for the documents and the proper screening, they do not get a driver’s license.
We are about to pay more for the uninsured motorist: http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2015/01/should-arizona-raise-its-insurance-requirements-for-drivers-one-lawmaker-hopes-to-do-so/
This is also a matter of a State’s rights versus the Federal government’s reach.
The Republicans who changed the licenses so they don’t meet Federal laws. The radical, angry GOP in AZ. The party who breeds radicals in AZ and then exports them to other states.
The Republicans who passed laws barring our military from carrying arms while on duty. Yet pass bills making it possible for all other civilians The Republicans who are silent on the mass murders in this nation. This is the type of people our IGNORANT voters want.
Another dead American:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/deportations_revolving_door_suspects_in_lawrence_shooting