Supreme Court bans Arizona from denying ‘Dreamers’ driver’s licenses

The Supreme Court on Monday barred Arizona from denying driver’s licenses to young undocumented immigrants often called “Dreamers.” 

Reuters reported that justices refused to hear the state’s Republican-driven challenge to President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects young people brought into the country illegally as children from deportation.

Their decision lets stand a lower court ruling that blocked the state from denying driver’s licenses to DACA recipients.

{mosads} Gov. Jan Brewer (R) had directed state officials to stop issuing driver’s licenses to Dreamers after Obama implemented the program, Reuters reported.

The state argued that its laws on driver’s licenses could not be overruled because DACA was enacted through a Department of Homeland Security memo instead of  congressional legislation, according to the news service, which added that Arizona was the only state to implement such restrictions. 

The American Civil Liberties Union had sued on behalf of a group of DACA recipients denied licenses. 

The justices in February refused to hear the Trump administration’s challenge to a lower court that prevented President Trump from ending DACA. 

Trump’s March 5 deadline for Congress to enact legislation to replace DACA has passed and lawmakers are still trying to implement legislation under the court’s protections. 

Democratic leaders, meanwhile, are backing off their demand to include Dreamer protections in the 2018 budget negotiations.