Reuters:
By Lawrence Hurley
December 17, 2014
The
U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked the state of Arizona from
enforcing a policy that denies driver's licenses to young immigrants
granted legal status by President Barack Obama in
2012.
The
court denied the request made by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to place a
hold on a ruling issued by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, which said there was no legal
basis for the policy. The state will now have to let roughly 20,000
eligible immigrants apply for driver's licenses.
The
brief court order noted that three conservative members among the nine
justices - Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito - would have
granted the state’s request.
The
affected residents were granted legal status by the federal government
under a 2012 program that critics called amnesty. A similar program
announced by President Barack Obama last month
would grant legal status to 4.4 million immigrants.
Brewer, a Republican who is about to leave office, and fellow GOP governors have said they will contest that program in court.
The
state's policy was aimed at counteracting a federal program launched by
Obama in August 2012 called "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,"
or DACA.
To
be eligible for DACA, immigrants must have come to the United States
before the age of 16 and had to be below 31 as of June 15, 2012.
Recipients must also be enrolled in school, or have
graduated from high school or obtained a high school equivalency
diploma, and have no serious criminal offenses on their records.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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