By Phil Riske
Rose Law Group Reporter
As it promised earlier this month, the civil rights group ACLU today sued Gov. Jan Brewer because she issued an executive order last summer denying Arizona driving license privileges and public benefits to children of illegal immigrants, who were granted relief from deportation by President Obama.
The ACLU seeks an injunction from the U.S. District Court in Arizona to stop Brewer’s order, alleging it is unconstitutional on grounds it violates the Supremacy and Equal Protection clauses“ of the U.S. Constitution.
Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson says Obama’s deportation exemption actually harms those he intended to help, published reports stated this afternoon.
“Unlike all previous classes granted deferred action, the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program is neither congressionally authorized nor enshrined in federal law,” Benson said. “The legal limbo now faced by DACA recipients is not due to any action by the State of Arizona or Arizona voters. Rather, it is due to President Obama’s decision to pursue this program via executive action rather than through the proper legislative process”
On the other side of the argument, the plaintiff argues the 80,000 illegal aliens who are eligible to apply deportation waivers by meeting federal work requirements have been hurt by the governor’s decision. They also have to pay taxes, but don’t qualify for government programs.
This also means they’ll pay taxes, but they won’t qualify for government programs.
By denying them a driver license, Arizona “impermissibly” regulated immigration by creating a new “state-based” classification of non-citizens and by imposing immigration-related burdens on them — even when the federal government already authorized their presence in the country, the ACLU suit said.
Immigration on the Hill
“Tentative kudos go to our own Sen. Jon Kyl, who, along with Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, took a baby step toward trying to save their party, with the unveiling of what Kyl called, the Achieve Act . . “ opined Mac Watson, KTAR talk host. “It’s an alternative to the Dream Act and it’s a small but important start to saving the party.”
In the newly proposed Achieve Act, illegal immigrants who were brought to America as a child may get a special visa that would permit them to stay in the United States
The visa would permit the immigrant to eventually become a citizen, but it’s not the clear-cut path that was included in the DreamAct.
“Let’s face it: true immigration reform that is agreeable to both sides will never be fully realized, but this is definitely a positive step for the survival of the GOP,” Watson said.
