COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Children of undocumented immigrants in Ohio who are U.S. citizens should now be able to obtain driver's licenses, thanks to a ruling in a federal class-action lawsuit.
The suit against the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles was filed in October 2018 by Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, a nonprofit legal firm in Dayton. It asked the court to allow minors who are U.S. citizens to get driver's licenses even if their parents lack legal immigration status in the country.
Previously, under BMV policy, minors in the state had to have parents co-sign for their driver's license, and their parents had to have legal status in the country.
The lawsuit was filed by ABLE on behalf of the Cincinnati-based nonprofit Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center and a few minors and their mothers. It asked the court to allow other adults to be allowed to co-sign a minor's application with a parent's permission, which is allowed under the Ohio Revised Code, said Emily Brown, an attorney with ABLE.
When asked, BMV officials didn't have an answer for why they weren't allowing the teens to get their licenses, according to the judge's decision.
U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. ruled that the policy violates the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
He said the court agrees with ABLE that the BMV can't determine document requirements for a license in a "discriminatory manner."
The BMV is deciding whether to appeal, spokeswoman Lindsey Bohrer said in an email.
Advocates estimated when they filed the lawsuit that the policy could have affected more than 3,000 teenage minors eligible to get a temporary permit, driver's license or state identification card in Ohio.
Alice Foeller, a community leader in Columbus' Northland area, spent weeks last summer trying unsuccessfully to help one of her teenage daughter's friends get a state identification card.
Foeller was thrilled Wednesday to hear that the girl, a U.S. citizen whose mother is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, now has a path to the state ID or driver's license she needs to get an after-school or summer job.
"The reason I was so passionate about it is that it seems like such an injustice," Foeller said. "It really fired me up, because it's so clearly not fair."
Her daughter's friend already faces plenty of barriers because of the immigration status of her mom, who scrapes by on low-wage jobs and says she lives in constant fear of deportation.
Foeller searched the internet and even went to a BMV office last year, incredulous that a citizen could be shut out of the process.
"Someone not born yet clearly cannot control the actions of their parent," Foeller said. "You can't blame them and give them a diminished status."
ABLE and the plaintiffs were thrilled with the judge's decision, Brown said.
"We're hopeful going forward the BMV will ensure its policies toward immigrants are fair," she said.
Sargus also decided another case filed by ABLE against the Ohio BMV this week, saying the agency's policy of denying a license to refugees with a federally issued document stating their legal status in the country couldn't stand.
All refugees get an arrival document when entering the country legally to be resettled, before they can then apply for a green card.
"It's so important that refugees are able to work and be able to get a license or ID so they can get approved by employers and be able to drive," said Angie Plummer, executive director of CRIS, one of two refugee resettlement agencies in Columbus. "It's so great that the court agreed that the state cannot require a new document not in line with federal immigration policy."
