Saying they still will not be here legally, Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday told state agencies to deny benefits and even driver's licenses to those illegal immigrants the Obama administration will allow to remain in the country.
In an executive order, the governor said the "deferred action'' program for those who arrived as children does not actually grant them any legal status. And that, she said, makes those in this category ineligible for public benefits under the terms of a 2004 voter-enacted measure.
"Allowing more than an estimated 80,000 deferred action recipients improper access to state or local benefits ... will have significant and lasting impacts on the Arizona budget, its health care system and additional public benefits that Arizona taxpayers fund,'' the order reads.
So she directed all state agencies to change their operations, policies and rules -- and statutes if necessary -- to prevent those in this category from getting benefits.
Brewer also said driver's licenses will be off limits to those in the deferred action program because state law prohibits the Department of Transportation from issuing licenses "unless an applicant submits proof satisfactory to ADOT that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.''
But that directive flies in the face of current ADOT policies which say that licenses are available to anyone with an Employment Authorization Document issued by the federal government without further documentation.
Potentially more significant, an attorney who specializes in immigration law says the governor's action is illegal.
Regina Jefferies acknowledged that those who will be part of the deferred action program will not have legal status. What they have, however, is "lawful presence.''
"They've got permission to be here,'' she said.
In fact, Jefferies said the whole concept of deferred action, while vastly expanded under the president's announcement, is not new. She said federal immigration officials have similarly classified others in the past, such as victims of domestic violence, and made their presence legal.
Jefferies said that classification will not entitle those in the new program to things like food stamps. But she said anyone who is granted deferred action can sue -- she believes successfully -- if the state denies any of these people a driver's license.
