Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

The Republic | azcentral.com

An appeals court has blocked Gov. Jan Brewer's executive order denying driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants who have work permits through President Barack Obama's deferred-action program.

The ruling Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marks a significant victory for immigration advocates who argued the young immigrants were harmed by unequal treatment by the state.

The appeals court agreed, adding that the plaintiffs had also shown a likelihood that the immigrants would be harmed by the state's refusal to grant the young immigrants driver's licenses.

In a written statement, Brewer said: "It is outrageous, though not entirely surprising, that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has once again dealt a blow to Arizona's ability to enforce its laws. With today's decision, a three judge appellate panel, appointed by Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama, disregarded judicial precedent and procedure.

"This continues us down a dangerous path in which the courts and the President – not Congress – make our nation's laws. The ruling is especially disturbing given the current influx of illegal aliens, a crisis President Obama created and escalated.

"I am analyzing options for appealing the misguided court decision. The American people are tired and disgusted by what is happening through our federal government today, but they can be assured Arizona will continue to fight for the rule of law."

READ:Brewer issues statement of court ruling

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Timothy Tait, an Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman, said the ruling is under review.

Dan Pochoda, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, called the decision significant. The ACLU and other civil-rights groups brought the lawsuit against the state.

"It's a very important win for the plaintiffs, for the DREAMERS – many DREAMERS – who clearly have been very much harmed by this policy, this vindictive policy by the governor," Pochoda told The Arizona Republic.

"This policy was motivated by a political relationship (between) Gov. Brewer and Obama, and she had no good reason and no basis in the law to do this," Pochoda said, adding that thousands of dollars have been expended by the state to defend the policy.

"This was a legal battle that should not have been taken on – it was a bad policy, and very likely illegal," he said.

The Obama administration announced the deferred-action program in June 2012, aimed at undocumented immigrants age 30 and younger who were brought to the U.S. as minors. Those approved for the program are allowed to remain in the U.S. for two years without the threat of deportation. During that time, they also receive federal work permits called employment authorization documents.

The program went into effect Aug.15, 2012. That same day, Brewer issued an executive order directing state agencies to deny driver's licenses and other public benefits to immigrants who obtained authorization under the program.

In May 2013, U.S. District Judge David Campbell rejected immigrant rights advocates' argument that Brewer's policy was unconstitutional because it is trumped by federal law.

But Campbell said the advocates were likely to succeed in arguing that the state allowed some immigrants with work permits to get driver's licenses, while denying the same benefit to immigrants protected under Obama's program.

Last summer, Arizona expanded the ban to include any immigrant granted deferred action from deportation. Most of those affected by the decision were people granted deferred action for humanitarian reasons, most commonly victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The governor's attorneys argued that by expanding the ban, the equal-protection argument was moot.

Civil rights advocates said the expansion of the policy was "vindictive" and would limit immigrants' ability to contribute to the community and support themselves.

The governor's attorneys said the driver's license policy grew out of concerns over the liability of giving licenses to people who aren't authorized to be in the country and reducing the risk of licenses being used to improperly access public benefits. Brewer has maintained that only Congress has the authority to grant non-citizens legal presence, which is required under state law to obtain a driver's license or state ID.

Civil rights advocates, have argued that the Department of Homeland Security has clarified that young undocumented immigrants allowed to remain in the U.S. through Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy "clearly" are legally authorized to be in the country and should be treated no different than undocumented immigrants who received eferred action from deportation for other reasons.

Pochoda noted that Arizona was one of two states with policies denying the immigrants driver's licenses. Nebraska is the other state.

The AP contributed to this report.