Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Immigration Roundup: Is the Tide Turning for DACA Drivers?

by Laura D. Francis

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Two weeks ago, it appeared that the trend was for an increasing number of states to deny driver’s licenses to beneficiaries of the Obama administration’s deferred action for childhood arrivals program. Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, and Iowa had taken stances against granting the licenses, arguing that they only could be granted to individuals who are lawfully present in the country—and that beneficiaries of the program for young, undocumented immigrants did not meet that qualification.

The move drew fire from the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that immigrants who are granted work permits under DACA need to be able to drive to work to take advantage of that benefit. The ACLU—which has filed two lawsuits over the policies—repeatedly has argued that “lawful presence” and “lawful status” do not have the same meaning under federal immigration law. However, states denying the licenses have maintained that the federal government has not been clear on that issue as it relates to DACA.

But that may have just changed. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Jan. 18 posted a new set of frequently asked questions on DACA, specifically clarifying that the program does indeed make a beneficiary lawfully present even though it does not confer lawful immigration status. That likely is welcome news for the 154,404 immigrants whose DACA applications have been approved as of Jan. 17.

Also turning the tide were Illinois, where the state legislature Jan. 8 passed a bill to grant driver’s licenses to all undocumented immigrants, and North Carolina, where the state attorney general’s office Jan. 17 issued an opinion letter echoing USCIS’s statement that DACA renders someone lawfully present—and that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles must issue beneficiaries driver’s licenses under state law. The North Carolina DMV had suspended issuing the licenses until it received the attorney general’s opinion on the matter.

DACA numbers continue to climb, with USCIS now having received over 400,000 applications. On average, since the program’s launch in mid-August, the agency has been receiving nearly 4,000 applications a day. Applicants also appear to be getting more savvy in their applications—while well over 3,000 applications were rejected for filing errors in the program’s early months, 605 rejections have been recorded for the first half of January.

 In Other News:   

• USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas Jan. 15 outlined his vision for the agency in 2013. While much will revolve around a potential overhaul bill from Congress and the DACA and provisional unlawful presence waiver programs, Mayorkas said USCIS will continue to update its new USCIS Policy Manual, issue regulations and precedent Administrative Appeals Office decisions, launch a new program office for the EB-5 immigrant investor program, and expand the Entrepreneurs in Residence initiative.

• A bipartisan poll sponsored by immigrant advocacy groups Jan. 18 revealed that a majority of Americans support a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration system that includes key elements such as immigrants paying taxes, employers verifying workers’ employment eligibility, border security, and a path to citizenship for the current undocumented immigrant population.

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Jan. 2 ruled that an undocumented immigrant could not adjust his status to permanent resident based on a labor certification application filed on his behalf before April 30, 2001, because, although his employer filed an application before that date, it was not approvable at the time.

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