PHOENIX — Attorneys for migrants are threatening a new lawsuit against Arizona if the state does not start issuing driver’s licenses to certain domestic-violence victims.
In a letter Wednesday to Gov. Doug Ducey, the lawyers point out that U.S. District Judge David Campbell ruled last December that the state cannot deny licenses to “dreamers.” Arizona eventually complied and those accepted into the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program have been getting licenses.
But the state has not extended the same right to others who have been given similar authorization by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to remain in this country, notably the victims of domestic violence. And that, they say, is illegal.
Nicholás Espíritu of the National Immigration Law Center, one of the groups making the demand, said if the state does not back down by May 13, he and the others will sue. Espíritu said he believes, given the earlier ruling by Campbell and decisions of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the state will have to back down.
“We have received this letter and are reviewing it,” said gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato.
Central to the dispute is a 1996 Arizona law that says licenses are available only to those whose presence in this country is “authorized by federal law.”
Homeland Security has for years issued “employment authorization documents” to those allowed to stay under “deferred action” programs. That included victims of domestic violence.
And for years Arizona accepted those employment authorization documents to grant licenses.
It was only after President Obama unveiled DACA in 2012 that Jan Brewer, then governor, issued an executive order declaring that those accepted into that program — and only that program — are not “authorized.” She directed the Transportation Department not to accept their work documents as proof.
And when challengers pointed out the disparity between DACA recipients and those in other deferred action programs, the state responded by cutting off their licenses, too.
Campbell’s December ruling, however, covered only the DACA recipients who sued, and Brewer refused to extend the privilege to other groups that were not part of the original lawsuit.
What has changed since then, the attorneys said, is they now have someone who is not a DACA recipient who has been denied a license, they believe illegally.
According to the lawyers, Marcos Gonzalez attempted to renew his license in January by presenting his employment authorization document as proof of authorized presence. Gonzalez got the document under a deferred-action program covering those who are battered or abused spouses or children.
MVD officials turned him away, citing the policy of recognizing those documents only for DACA recipients as they were the only ones covered by the court order.
Espíritu said, “These other individuals with these other EADs, they’re likewise authorized to be here by federal law, just like DACA recipients are.” (EAD stands for employment authorization document.)
“Their status is no different,” he continued. “Therefore, they should be eligible for Arizona driver’s licenses.”
Espíritu said there is a basis for that, pointing out that Gonzalez had, in fact, previously been issued an Arizona driver’s license using the same document, and it was only the change in policy that resulted in his being turned away now.
The issue came up during the gubernatorial campaign, before the December ruling. Ducey said during a debate that he will have “respect and compassion for everyone.”
“But I don’t think anyone gets the privileges and benefits of hardworking Arizona families, that are paid for by hardworking Arizona taxpayers,” he said. “We’re a nation of immigrants and we’re a nation of laws.”
The state has appealed Campbell’s ruling.
