PHOENIX β Refusing to give up the fight, newly elected state Attorney General Mark Brnovich is going to renew the effort to take licenses to drive out of the hands of dreamers.
His office filed a notice Friday it intends to appeal a month-old ruling by U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell that Arizona acted illegally in denying licenses for those who qualify for the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In issuing a permanent injunction, Campbell rejected arguments by attorneys for the state that DACA recipients are in this country illegally.
Friday's filing by the Attorney General's Office does not provide details of what the state will now argue to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The chances of getting a favorable ruling there could be minimal at best. The appellate judge rejected similar arguments last year when it ordered Campbell to issue a preliminary injunction.
And the U.S. Supreme Court refused to disturb that order.
Brnovich did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the decision to keep up the legal fight which has reportedly cost taxpayers $1.5 million.
Linton Joaquin, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, said he was disappointed by the appeal.
"It's really a step backwards for defendants to continue to litigate this and to seek to prevent people who are contributing to the state from getting driver's licenses," he said.
It's not just a question of blocking access to the licenses. It also means Arizona is trying to take away the licenses of those who have gotten them since Campbell's original order.
The Motor Vehicle Division had no immediate figures on the number of DACA recipients who now are driving legally.
But a newly released report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that nearly 26,000 Arizonans have applied, with more than 23,000 granted DACA status.
Friday's action comes just weeks after newly elected Gov. Doug Ducey took himself and his office out of the legal fray which had been started by his predecessor.
