On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell ordered the state of Arizona to begin issuing driver’s licenses to illegal alien children, who were brought to this country by their parents, starting next Monday.
Campbell’s preliminary injunction reads in part:
Until further order of this Court, Defendants and their officials, agents, and employees, and all persons acting in concert or participating with them, are enjoined from enforcing any policy or practice by which the Arizona Department of Transportation refuses to accept Employment Authorization Documents, issued under DACA, as proof that the document holders are authorized under federal law to be present in the United States for purposes of obtaining a driver’s license or state identification card.
To enable Defendants time to provide the necessary communications to their officers and employees, this order shall become effective on December 22, 2014.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a statement released Thursday, “The right to determine who is issued a driver license is reserved for the states – not the federal government or an unelected judiciary. It is outrageous that Arizona is being forced to ignore longstanding state law and comply with a flawed federal court mandate that requires the state, at least temporarily, to issue driver licenses to individuals whose presence is in violation of federal law, as established by the United States Congress.”
“At stake in this case are the fundamental issues of constitutional law and state sovereignty. Arizona has the constitutional right and authority to enforce state statute. This right must be protected. It must be defended. And as long as I am governor, I will do exactly that,” continued Brewer.
“It is important to remember that courts have yet to consider the full merits of the case, and I believe that Arizona will ultimately prevail.” Brewer concluded, “Consequently, I have instructed my legal team to move forward in pursuing a full review of this matter before the United States Supreme Court as soon as possible.”
The vast majority of DREAMERs were brought to the U.S. as young children by their parents and are here illegally through not fault of their own.