ACLU Sues State of Michigan Over Denial of Driver's Licenses to Non-U.S. Citizens

It has been rather standard procedure for many of the border states to attempt to end-run around the federal immigration laws and deal with localized immigration problems (real or perceived) with state law. Recently, Michigan (not a usual suspect) has taken a hard line against immigrants by using an existing section of the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code to deny driver's licenses to non-U.S. Citizens or lawful permanent residents. Utilizing a misguided interpretation of the Michigan Attorney General's published legal opinion regarding the definition of the term "resident" in the motor vehicle code, Land has instructed her office to deny driver's licenses to all Michigan residents who are not U.S. Citizens or lawful permanent residents.

The extraordinary interpretation of this definition means that thousands of lawfully present non-immigrants in the State of Michigan cannot obtain a Michigan driver's license. This includes foreign nationals residing in the State of Michigan as students, professors, temporary laborers, other professional workers, and several other classes of lawful non-immigrants.

The State of Michigan gains absolutely nothing by denying these lawfully admitted non-immigrants the right to obtain a driver's license. In fact, all they do is loose a valuable source of venue from the foregone licensing fees.

Fortunately, the ACLU and several members of the Michigan chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association were on the ball. Today the ACLU filed a lawsuit in Michigan state court alleging that Land's application of the motor vehicle code in this manner is unconstitutional. The lawsuit filed by the ACLU is attached for those interest in more details about the case.