Legal Hispanics in Texas await license ruling

Legal residents await driver's license ruling
By Brandi Grissom / El Paso Times, 07/27/2009

AUSTIN -- Betty Tercero has lived in El Paso nearly her whole life.

The 27-year-old has a Social Security number.

She has a job.

She has a valid work permit.

But the state of Texas won't give her a driver's license.

Like thousands of other legal Texas residents, Tercero is waiting for court rulings in two cases that seek to stop rules linking driver's licenses to immigration status. These restrictions have resulted in many citizens and legal immigrants losing their ability to drive legally.

"I have my husband drive me around and -- guilty as charged -- there have been times I have to drive, so I'm driving without a driver's license," she said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety in October implemented a rule that denies driver's licenses and identification cards to those whose legal status in the United States expires in fewer than six months. The department also started printing "TEMPORARY VISITOR" on licenses for all non-U.S. citizens.

Two civil rights groups have sued the state over the rule.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed suit in state court, saying state lawmakers had not given DPS authority to implement the rule. DPS lawyers argued in court that the agency had broad discretion to make rules.

A judge last spring agreed with MALDEF and ordered the department to stop its policy. But the agency appealed the ruling and is continuing to enforce rules on driver's licenses.

Lawyers on each side have filed briefs. They await a decision on the appeal.

Jeff Thimesch, owner of Green Meadows Landscaping in North Texas, is one of several people listed in the MALDEF lawsuit. He said he was worried the new rule could put him out of business.

About 90 percent of his 40 workers are in the country on temporary work visas. Many have been working for him for decades, but their permits are only good for 10 months at a time.

That means unless his workers get a license at the start of their visa period, they could be denied. If their existing license expires with fewer than six months remaining during their visa period, they would lose the license.

"Everything we do requires driving to and from a job site," Thimesch said.

The rule makes it hard for business owners who are trying to follow the law and hire legal workers, Thimesch said.

"I think it should go back to the way it was," he said.

The Texas Civil Rights Project also sued DPS over the license rule. That lawsuit is scheduled for a hearing Aug. 3 in U.S. District Court in Austin.

Jim Harrington, a lawyer for the group, said the lawsuit argues that federal immigration law trumps Texas' attempt to enforce immigration laws. It also charges that the DPS rule unconstitutionally deprives legal U.S. residents of their right to travel.

Harrington also said the rule is arbitrary because it allows some legal residents to get a driver's license but not others.

DPS and Gov. Rick Perry have said the rule was aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses and protecting the integrity of licenses as identification documents.

Briefs in the federal case have not been submitted yet but are to be filed Friday.

Lawmakers this year attempted to pass measures that would clarify the driver's license rule and end the lawsuits. Their efforts failed.

State Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, proposed making the DPS citizenship rules permanent. Ensuring that only those in the country legally are allowed to obtain driver's licenses is critical to national security, Merritt said.

He said it could prevent potential terrorists who entered the country illegally from getting a recognized identification document.

"What we use as ID almost everywhere is the Texas driver's license," he said.

Other legislators, though, worried that requiring DPS to inspect and assess immigration documents and issue licenses based on Texans' legal residency status could result in discrimination and harassment.

"These people, they don't come to do any harm to anybody. They just come here to work, to take care of their families," said state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio.

Without clear guidance from lawmakers, Merritt said, he expected the lawsuits to continue through multiple appeals.

When lawmakers meet again in 2011, he said, the issue would likely still be undecided.

As lawyers and lawmakers continue their dispute over the driver's license rules, Betty Tercero said she would remain without a license until she gets a new visa from federal officials.

It's a process she knows from past experience could take months. Meanwhile, she said, she drives when she has to and prays that police don't pull her over.

"Honestly," she said, "sometimes you do feel like you're undocumented."

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.