FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHOENIX – Arizona is permanently prohibited from withholding driver’s licenses and other state-issued identification from young immigrants who have been granted permission to live and work in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a federal judge ruled late Thursday.
In today’s ruling, U.S. District Court Judge David G. Campbell made permanent his December order temporarily enjoining Arizona from enforcing its ban on driver’s licenses for these young immigrants, commonly called Dreamers. Former Arizona governor Jan Brewer instituted the ban in 2012.
Alessandra Soler, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona, which represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit Arizona Dream Act Coalition, et al. v. Brewer, had this to say regarding Thursday’s ruling:
“Today's decision paves the way for these young immigrants to contribute more fully to our communities and sends a clear message to Gov. Ducey that his predecessor's anti-immigrant policies were legally flawed and came at a great cost to Arizona taxpayers. We're hopeful Gov. Ducey will live up to his campaign promise to bring a new era to Arizona by abandoning the divisive anti-immigrant measures that soured economic prospects and made Arizona a laughingstock. It’s time for Arizona’s leaders to embrace policies that unite and move us forward.”
In addition to the ACLU of Arizona and the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund challenged Brewer’s executive order and related policies in court, alleging the ban violated DACA recipients’ constitutional right to equal protection under the law.
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