Grijalva asks Brewer to allow licenses for immigrants

Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva called on Gov. Jan Brewer to lift her executive order denying driver licenses to immigrants under the DACA federal guidelines.

“The new guidelines confirm that young immigrant students brought to the country as children are authorized to be here. The debate is over. State lawmakers and agencies should immediately take note,” Grijalva said in a press release.

 Gov. Brewer issued an executive order last Aug. 15 instructing state agencies to deny public benefits and state-issued ID to DACA recipients on the grounds they were not legally present in the state.

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an enforcement policy issued by the Department of Homeland Security after an executive order by President Barack Obama last fall. The press release states guidelines issued by DHS supersede state-level rulemaking.

The updated guidelines posted on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Website confirm that deferred action beneficiaries are “lawfully present” under federal immigration laws.

 “This is not the first time Governor Brewer has been on the wrong side of a ruling. Arizona cannot continue to invent its own immigration policy every time she reads a poll. It costs this state too much,” Grijalva said.

As of this month, USCIS has received 407,899 requests for deferred actions, including 14,069 by Arizonans, according to Grijalva’s Office. Of these, 394,533 have been accepted and 154,404 approved.