Driver’s License Suit

Several law review articles a couple of years ago analyzed driver’s license eligibility as a civil rights issue for undocumented immigrants.  And today we have two blog stories on identification issues.  Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles employees are routinely and unlawfully denying driver’s licenses to immigrants who are here legally, according to a class-action law suit filed yesterday. According to the suit, Registry workers asked the immigrants for proof of legal residency when they were not authorized to do so. The workers then denied licenses to the applicants, incorrectly concluding that the immigrants had not demonstrated they were in the United States legally, the suit alleges. In all cases, the immigrants’ lawyers said, the Registry workers were overstepping their legal authority and violating the immigrants’ constitutional rights. “They don’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration law,” said Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, who is representing the seven immigrants who brought the suit. “But they’ve taken it upon themselves to do it, and they’re doing it wrong. It’s not an isolated case here and there. This appears to be policy.” Wunsch said hundreds of other immigrants have similarly been denied licenses.   For a news story on the case, click here.  For the ACLU-Massachusetts press release, click here.

KJ