University alumnus and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued a letter last Friday in which he supported the Department of Motor Vehicles' decision to reject federal work permit cards as adequate proof of lawful presence in the country.
The Employment Authorization Document is issued to people who are temporarily in the United States and seeking employment. Until September, it was an acceptable proof of legal presence for those applying for a Virginia ID or driver's license. The change in the DMV's policy came after a Bolivian immigrant scheduled for deportation used the document to prove legal presence and was then the driver in a fatal August car accident.
Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Sept. 8 that the department would no longer accept the documents. His office released a press statement at that time, noting that "this precautionary action is the result of concerns over the document's reliability as evidence of an individual's federal government authorization to be in the country."
When the DMV made its change, department commissioner Richard Holcomb requested a formal opinion from the attorney general's office.
Virginia law requires applicants for drivers' licenses, permits and ID cards to have documentation showing they are lawfully present in the country, but it does not specifically state which forms are valid for this purpose. In his letter Friday, Cuccinelli stated that the DMV should use its discretion in deciding whether to accept EADs as sufficient proof.
"It is my opinion that the department has authority to accept or to refuse to accept an Employment Authorization Document, standing alone, as documentary evidence of lawful status in the United States," Cuccinelli said.
Nevertheless, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia vowed in a Monday press release that it would continue opposing the policy, ultimately aiming to have it reversed.
"We know from our interviews that this policy is devastating for many legally present immigrants who can't find work because they can't obtain a driver's license," stated Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.
The ACLU argues that the policy change is based on strong anti-Latino sentiment and a trend of Virginians overreacting to the state's growing Latino population during the last few years.
To voice its concerns, the organization first sent a letter to Holcomb in September. In the letter, Willis and other representatives of the ACLU of Virginia wrote the immigrants who rely on the EAD to demonstrate legal presence include "refugees, aliens granted Temporary Protected Status, domestic violence victims granted status through the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA), victims of violent crimes who have cooperated with law enforcement (U Visa holders), victims of trafficking who have cooperated with law enforcement (T Visa holders), as well as aliens in removal proceedings who have legitimate claim to an immigration benefit."
ACLU officials hoped to change McDonnell's mind on the policy change, but Cuccinelli's letter gives the action more legal validity.
"The integrity of the credentials issued by the Commonwealth is of the utmost importance," McDonnell said. "We must ensure that documents accepted as proof of legal presence are reliable. Virginia law is clear in the requirement that an individual be lawfully in the United States to be eligible for an identification card or to have the privilege to drive"
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