Fed Judge Tosses Lawsuit Challenging NE Ban Illegal Aliens' on Driver’s Licenses

by Brian Hayes | Top Right News

Two days, two victories for opponents of illegal immigration in the state of Nebraska.

Just yesterday TRN reported on the landslide victory in a Fremont, NE vote to bar illegal aliens from being able to rent housing.

Today, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit challenging Nebraska’s authority to deny driver’s licenses to illegal aliens who have received temporary authorization to live and work in the United States by Barack Obama.

The ruling could have a major impact across the nation as states come under well-funded pressure to hand licenses to illegals under the controversial program.

Mayra Saldana, 24, of Lincoln sued the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles because she was denied a driver’s license — even though she was handed a Social Security number and work authorization by the Obama DHS.

Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has given effective amnesty to illegal alien youth who claimed to have been brought into the country illegally as children — even though the program itself is fraught with fraud risks due to its minimal proof requirements.

DACA’s lax application process resulted in a staggering 99% approval rate for applying illegal aliens — a huge red flag.

In addition, a Federal judge in Texas ruled last year that the entire DACA program is likely unconstitutional and may be thrown out in future litigation.

Nebraska and Arizona are the only states that deny driver’s licenses to aliens who have received the renewable, two-year deferred action permits.

The Nebraska DMV says it issues licenses only to those people who are lawfully in the country as determined by the federal government and verified through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, not the DACA program.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has defended the state’s denial of licenses to young immigrants who have deferred action permits.

In legal filings, the office has argued that a deferred action authorization is not valid by itself and must be accompanied by a second approved document before a driver’s license can be issued.

“We’re pleased the court dismissed the case and recognized illegal immigrants don’t qualify for Nebraska driver’s licenses,” Attorney General Jon Bruning said. “Today’s ruling validates the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles’ denial of applications from those without lawful status.”

The George Soros-funded Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which represented Saldana in the lawsuit,  might appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because of the judge’s earlier dismissal of one of Saldana’s constitutional claims.

“We felt from the get-go it was premature” for the attorney general to seek summary judgment, Rivas said.

U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp said she dismissed the case because Saldana’s lawyers didn’t provide sufficient evidence showing that the DMV has not consistently followed its policies when issuing licenses to individuals granted deferred action, as Saldana alleged.

The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought back to the court.

Camp said in her ruling the evidence showed that the DMV has issued driver’s licenses and state ID cards only to individuals lawfully in the United States as determined by the SAVE system.