NILC Statement on District Court Ruling Against DACA

WASHINGTON — Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement in response to a ruling from U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas finding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) unlawful:

“While expected, today’s court ruling is devastating. It impacts hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth and their loved ones, who have already endured years of uncertainty stemming from politicized attacks on DACA. Congress has failed to pass a permanent legislative solution, and it is urgent that they act now. We cannot allow court rulings to continue to upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth whose home is here. We demand that Congress pass a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and immigrant youth.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2023

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, National Immigration Law Center, 213-375-3149, [email protected]
Ariella Sult, ACLU of Indiana, 317-759-6425, [email protected]

Lawsuit Claims Indiana Law Discriminates Based on National Origin

ACLU of Indiana and National Immigration Law Center File Lawsuit against H.E.A. 1050

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of five Haitian immigrants who want to obtain an Indiana driver’s license or identification card.

The federal government may temporarily admit a noncitizen to the United States “for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit,” under “humanitarian parole.” In recent years the federal government has authorized the entry of noncitizens from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua due to humanitarian crises in those countries.

H.E.A. 1050 is a new Indiana law, passed during the 2023 legislative session, that creates a pathway for individuals on humanitarian parole to obtain Indiana driver’s licenses or identification cards, but only if they are from Ukraine.

People on humanitarian parole from other countries could also benefit from being allowed to drive or obtain state-issued identification. The plaintiffs in the case, for example, are authorized to work in the United States, all hold steady jobs, and have to rely on others for rides to work. According to the complaint, the ability to drive is of fundamental importance in American society, particularly in cities and towns in Indiana where services are frequently dispersed and where public transportation is not always accessible.

The lawsuit claims that by allowing individuals from Ukraine to obtain an I.D. but not permitting the same opportunity to Haitian refugees, H.E.A. 1050 represents national-origin discrimination.

The lawsuit claims that the new law is an unconstitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, that it is preempted by federal law as a result of the Supremacy Clause, and that it violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, et seq.

“Our clients are being denied access to state issue IDs solely because they are Haitians and not Ukrainians,” said Gavin M. Rose, ACLU of Indiana senior attorney. “Non-Ukrainians on humanitarian parole are left struggling to get to work, to keep medical appointments, to take children to school, and more, all because they cannot drive.”

“The federal government regulates immigration- not the states,” said Chiraayu Gosrani, an attorney with NILC. “The State of Indiana cannot create immigration classifications that conflict with federal law, and here they have done just that in an effort to unconstitutionally discriminate against people with humanitarian protections who are overwhelmingly immigrants of color.”

The complaint can be viewed at: https://www.aclu-in.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/dkt_1_-_complaint_no_exhs.pdf

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