Young Immigrants Allowed to Get Driver’s Licences

BY JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press

PHOENIX — A judge has cleared the way for thousands of young immigrants in Arizona who are protected from deportation under an Obama administration policy to get driver’s licenses.

A preliminary injunction issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge David Campbell bars the state from enforcing Gov. Jan Brewer’s policy of denying the licenses to about 20,000 immigrants.

The injunction goes into effect Monday and is a formality that carries out instructions issued in July by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The move in Arizona to deny the licenses was a reaction to steps taken by the Obama administration in 2012 to shield thousands of immigrants from deportation.

Brewer’s move marked the nation’s most visible challenge to the Obama policy.

The governor is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review her appeal of the 9th Circuit decision.