American Civil Liberties Union

This week, Wyoming confirmed that it will now provide driver’s licenses to young immigrants who came to the country as children, popularly known as “DREAMers.”  The decision is the latest victory for immigrant youth granted permission to live and work in the country under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program.

Wyoming thus joins the chorus of states that have decided to let the DREAMers drive.  Generally, states limit driver’s licenses to immigrants who can show they are “authorized" or “legally present” in the United States.  Consistent with guidance from the federal government, the overwhelming majority of states have rightly acknowledged that immigrants granted DACA are legally authorized to be in the country, and thus eligible to drive.

Two years ago, Georgia passed one of the most stringent immigration laws in the country, House Bill 87. Both supporters and opponents of the bill now agree that it has a major flaw which needs to be fixed quickly. As written, the law subjects U.S. citizens renewing a professional license to months of delay, costing many of them their jobs and livelihood.

Legislators from both sides of the aisle wisely pledged to work together to do away with this unacceptable consequence. Straightforward, fix-it bills were introduced in the state House and Senate. Unfortunately, a few legislators have pushed for last-minute changes to the bills, sending them in a completely different direction. The changes threaten to embroil Georgia into another protracted and rancorous debate.

This was cross-posted to The Huffington Post. 

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values," where I will testify. The hearing will address how our immigration system currently fails to live up to our Constitution because it does not ensure the due process right to a fair day in court before locking someone away for months in an immigration prison or permanently banishing them from our country. Furthermore, although immigration law is formally termed as "civil," this is legal fiction; in reality, it has the hallmark harshness of the criminal justice system. The outcomes of this system are often devastating, not only for the immigrants themselves, but also for their families.

Apparently as a result of sequester-induced budget cuts, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently released hundreds of immigration detainees that it found were not risks either to flee or endanger public safety. The fact that these detainees were locked up in the first place confirms a startling truth about our immigration detention system: the government routinely detains people for no good reason. Even Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised to examine why these detainees were in jail, saying: "That's a good question. I've asked the same question myself...so we're looking into it."