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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Court rejects DMV practice of taking illegal immigrants' licenses Court rejects DMV practice of taking illegal immigrants' licenses By MICHAEL GORMLEY ALBANY, N.Y. -- A state judge on Tuesday ruled the state Department of Motor Vehicles can't revoke the driver's licenses of as many as 252,000 illegal immigrants because they haven't secured Social Security cards. The DMV "may not use immigration status" to deny licenses, according to the decision by state Supreme Court Justice Karen Smith. "Plaintiffs have faced and will continue to face serious injuries if these practices continue." The court said DMV lacks the authority to carry out the practice that could only be enacted by a legislature. The judge also rejected the state's "temporary visitor" program begun in 2003 which provided temporary licenses with expiration dates based on a person's immigration status. The driver's license would expire even if the immigrant was entitled to an automatic renewal of authorization to remain in the United States. The practice requires proof of residency not required under law, the judge said. She argued it would be similar if DMV required a marriage license to prove identity, keeping unmarried people from obtaining driver's licenses. "This rule is an unauthorized exercise of DMV's rule-making power and will, in all likelihood, be held invalid," the judge wrote. At issue is a change in DMV policy in 2002 as a homeland security measure that could keep driver's licenses _ widely used by police for valid identification _ from terrorists. The practice also discontinued the use of foreign passports or foreign birth certificates, according to court papers. The state's new practice followed its analysis of licensed drivers with issued Social Security numbers in 2002. The review found that of 11.5 million licensed New York drivers, DMV couldn't verify the Social Security numbers of about 600,000 people. DMV then issued letters threatening to revoke the licenses if the drivers didn't supply valid Social Security numbers. Most people provided the numbers, but 252,000 haven't responded and would have been subject to license revocation under the practice, according to the court decision. A spokesman for the Pataki administration didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The decision could be appealed. The attorney for the immigrants said he had no immediate comment until he could read the decision. In February, Smith issued a temporary order to stop the state from seizing the driver's licenses of immigrants without Social Security cards, which would have stripped the licenses of as many as 252,000 so-called illegal immigrants. State officials said it was in the interest of homeland security and traffic safety to take away the licenses. In its first months, the anti-terrorism measure seized 7,000 licenses before Smith's order. A government lawyer said the state has not decided whether to appeal Thursday's order. New York is among a dozen states that do not limit driver's licenses to legal residents. ___ On the Net: http://www.nycourts.gov/whatsnew
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