Attorney General Mark Brnovich is ready to continue the legal fight to strip DREAMers off driver’s licenses.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell made permanent a December preliminary injunction that allowed young immigrants under President Obama’s DACA program, which in 2012 granted hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought here as children renewable work permits, social security cards and relief from deportation, to start getting licenses. That decision was thought to have made it official that Arizona cannot prohibit DREAMers from applying for driver’s licenses.

Brnovich yesterday filed a notice of appeal to overturn that ruling.

Apparently, the state is still very interested in spending millions (they’ve already spent about $1.5 million in legal fees) to carry on former Gov. Jan Brewer’s torch, saying driving is “a privilege not a right,” and that the discretion of granting licenses should be up to the state not the federal government—words all too similar to Brewer’s arguments.

Since 2012, federal courts continuously ruled against Brewer’s executive action, which she announced the same day the DACA program went into effect. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 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 that let roughly 22,000 Arizonans under DACA start applying for licenses five days later.

The permanent injunction could now head to the 9th Circuit and maybe event to the U.S. Supreme Court, as Brewer intended it to during her final days as governor.

The only other state to deny DREAMers licenses is Nebraska.

This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

7 replies on “(Is This a Joke?) Arizona Set to Appeal Driver’s Licenses for DREAMers”

  3. Don Quixote rides again! If it weren’t for the changing names on the lawsuits, I’d swear we were living Groundhog Day here in Arizona.

  4. Driving is a privilege of the state, that’s what any police officer or judge will tell you. Neither I nor any one of you reading my words has a RIGHT to have a driver’s license; you have to satisfy the state’s requirement for one.

  5. Do a Joe Arpaio, make the Drivers license pink with the words “Illegal alien” stamped across the top.

  6. Just curious. Do these Dreamers/Illegals/whatevers have to pass a drivers test ? Not clear in this emotional article. I know that the Border Agents have been told to let them drive drunk without tipping off the local police. I just want to know if they have to drive knowing what they are doing.

  7. It’s one thing to allow an illegal alien, undocumented person, economic refugee, Mexican Citizen Expatriate the ability to pay In-State tuition for college. I am not against anyone attempting to better themselves by putting in the work and paying for it. Although, anyone else needs an Arizona address, a tax return, utility bill and must sign a document that swears they have resided here for a year to receive in-state tuition. This means that a Mexican is receiving a benefit, lower tuition, that Californians/New Mexicans/Nevadans – United States Citizens are not eligible for.
    BUT – I sincerely believe that gifting a US Arizona Driver’s License to a Mexican Citizen who has not filed the appropriate paperwork and paid the necessary fees to become a Permanent Resident/US Citizen/Asylum is circumventing the system in place and should not be allowed.
    Our VISA and Immigration Policies need to brought into 2015 and funded appropriately.

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