PHOENIX — Young immigrants protected from deportation under an Obama administration policy began getting Arizona driver’s licenses Monday for the first time.
Arizona was one of the last states in the country where officials refused to issue driver’s licenses to young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children but allowed to remain under the 2012 Obama administration program.
Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer waged a lengthy legal battle over the program. Courts ruled against the state on several occasions and cleared the way for licenses to be issued Monday.
People lined up early at a Motor Vehicle Division office in Phoenix and cheered when the doors opened. They said they were excited about getting a license after driving to their jobs without one and fearing they would be pulled over.
“It’s going to be … peace of mind knowing that I’m legally allowed to drive now, not having to watch over my back and think of, ‘Oh, am I going to get pulled over and get a ticket, get my car towed, and how am I going to get to work the next day,’ ” said Jose Cazares, 21.
After lining up in the dark outside Motor Vehicle Division offices, the immigrants filled out paperwork then took written exams and driving tests, performing parallel-parking maneuvers surrounded by TV cameras.
“It feels pretty nice knowing that I finally have the piece of paper that I have been waiting for for over two years,” 19-year-old Ramon Maldonado said as he emerged with a license.
Jose Alberto Aguilar, a Mexico City native who was brought to the U.S. by his parents as a child, waited at a Motor Vehicle Division office in Tucson. The 23-year-old civil engineer rides the bus to work each day.
“It’s great because it allows me to get a car and be safer too,” he said.
Aguilar said he was hired as a civil engineer after an internship made possible when he acquired a Social Security number through the Obama administration program that he said “really opened a lot of doors for me.”
State officials expect the rush of applicants to continue in the weeks ahead since about 20,000 immigrants could be eligible for driver’s licenses.
A preliminary injunction issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge David Campbell barred the state from enforcing Brewer’s license policy.
Brewer moved to deny the driver’s licenses after the Obama administration took steps to shield thousands of immigrants from deportation.
