Lawsuit: Arizona illegally withholding driver's licenses from some migrants
A single mother battling cancer and a victim of domestic abuse are among immigrants who qualify for Arizona driver's licenses but have been unlawfully denied, a group of advocacy organizations claimed in a lawsuit filed in federal court this week.
Arizona's policy of denying licenses to some immigrants who have been granted deferred action, or protection from deportation, is unconstitutional, says the lawsuit brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Immigration Law Center and the Ortega Law Firm.
Arizona is the only state that has denied licenses to people under the deferred action program who used to be eligible to receive them, said Victor Viramontes, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The lawsuit's plaintiffs include five Arizona immigrants who are recipients of a years-old program granting some immigrants who are in the country illegally the ability to work and be protected from deportation. The state must give them licenses because they are lawfully present in the country, the lawsuit filed Monday says.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2016/09/13/lawsuit-arizona-illegally-withholding-drivers-licenses-migrants/90332528/