A federal appeals court has ruled Arizona cannot deny drivers licenses to so-called DREAMers. The issue is now settled, unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes.
Arizona has been trying to deny these licenses since 2012, when the Obama administration allowed people who came into the country illegally as children to stay. But then-governor Jan Brewer issued an executive order to the motor vehicle department to deny licenses to these so-called DREAMers. Brewer cited a state law that said licenses can only given to people in the country legally.
This new ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Arizona does not get to decide who’s in the U.S. legally.
Attorney Nora Preciado is with the National Immigration Law Center.
"The executive order and the policies that MVD created to try to bar documented folks from getting their driver's license can never be implemented because the court found that it's preempted," she said. "It violates federal law."
A spokesman for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich says he has no comment at this time.
