Obamas DREAM Act-lite runs into more trouble
Nebraska has joined Arizona in opposing legal status for immigrants who are newly-documented under Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, setting up a constitutional battle while raising tough questions about the program.
Two days after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer declared her state wont confer drivers licenses and other state benefits to newly-documented immigrants under Obamas deferred action immigration policy, Nebraska, too, put its foot down.
Echoing Gov. Brewer, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) said on Saturday that Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program does not make successful applicants legal citizens, meaning they remain ineligible for state benefits like drivers licenses and other services.
The deferred action plan, which took effect on Wednesday, could make as many as 1.7 illegal immigrants eligible for deferred action status, meaning theyre eligible to receive work papers and drivers licenses. Applicants have to be no more than 31 years old, must have arrived in the US before the age of 16, and have no major crimes on their record.
The opposition stances taken by Nebraska and Arizona seem to at least partially challenge federal law, specifically the 2005 Real ID Act, which lists deferred action recipients as being eligible for drivers licenses.
Experts, however, admit there are gray areas in the Real ID Act, especially as neither Arizona nor Nebraska lawmakers have ratified it. That means the moves by the two states amount to a Constitutional throwdown,
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