Brnovich argues state trumps feds in DACA driver’s license case
By | Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
Attorney General Mark Brnovich lashed out at the Trump administration for asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Arizona’s bid to deny driver’s licenses to “dreamers.”
In legal papers filed with the high court, Brnovich accused the Department of Justice of being “surprisingly dismissive” of his arguments that a federal appellate court ruling requiring the state to issue licenses is impinging on state sovereignty. And he says the Trump administration appears to be willing to, in effect, throw Arizona under the bus to advance its own arguments about the legality of the president’s efforts to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The filing comes after Noel Francisco, the federal solicitor general, told the justices they should deny Brnovich’s plea to review the appellate court ruling that went against Arizona and voided the 2012 state policy of declaring that dreamers have no legal right to a license. Francisco said there is no reason to believe the appellate court reached the wrong conclusion based on the evidence before it.
More significant, he said Arizona is legally wrong.
