Photo: DDS website
Fact-filled response to DDS’s [1] Michael Mitchell’s claim that illegal aliens are not getting Georgia drivers licenses and his attack on WSB TV
“On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status.” (bold emphasis mine -dak)
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service website. [2]
FYI:
*In fed law the term “alien” describes [3] a non-(U.S.) citizen.
*With a work permit ( EAD [4] ) / SSN an individual (illegal alien or not) can get a Georgia drivers license and/or an ID card. [5]
*Here is what oft-quoted immigration lawyer and former GALEO board member, Charles Kuck told GPB [6] when asked about “lawful presence/legal status:
”We’re not talking about legal status–that’s an entirely different thing—nor are we arguing that these children have legal status, they do not. But they do have lawful presence and if the language ‘lawfully present’ is present in the Board of Regents’ tuition policy and the federal government says that these children are lawfully present if granted DACA, there is no lawful reason why these children are not given in-state tuition in Georgia,” Kuck explained.”
**Here is just one of several liberal media reports [7] confirming illegal aliens are getting drivers licesnes in Georgia. I have a bunch more.
→DDS/Michael Mitchell’s letter [8] to the legislators claiming WSB TV is inaccurate, by segment:
“Recent media reports concerning the DDS driver’s license issuance policies have incorrectly stated that DDS issues credentials to illegal immigrants. That is not true.” FALSE: The illegal aliens to whom Pres. Obama granted deferred action on deportation are still illegal aliens. USCIS makes that very clear again – ( FAQ ) here – twice [9]). They do not have “legal/lawful status.”
They are aliens (non-citizens [10]) here w/o legal status. Because of the 2012 Obama decree, they do have “lawful presence” which is merely a term to describe the fact that they are not accruing “unlawful presence” time [11], which after a year can stop re-entry for up to 10 years.
“Q5 [9]: If my case is deferred, am I in lawful status for the period of deferral?
A5: No. Although action on your case has been deferred and you do not accrue unlawful presence (for admissibility purposes) during the period of deferred action, deferred action does not confer any lawful status.”
State law (OCGA 50-36-1 as one example) was written long before anyone could imagine that anyone would extend a deferred action program imlemented to be applied on a case-by-case, individual basis –to about 750,000 illegal aliens.
The intent and language of the original version of SB 6 (2015) was to change the language in Ga. Law from “lawful presence” to “legal status” so as to end issuance of drivers licenses/ID cards to illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation. In 2016, with new language that only changed the look and use of the drivers license/ID card [12] now issued to non-citizens/illegal aliens with no legal status, SB 6 passed the state senate [13] with every Republican vote except one ( Sen. Tommie Williams [14], who made it clear both years that any action on SB 6 would harm the continued employment of his sous chef).
“DDS requires proof of lawful status from all non-citizens before the issuance of a Georgia driver’s license or ID Card.” FALSE: See above. They cannot prove what they clearly do not have. DDS has been peddling this to lawmakers for three years. All he had to do was use “lawful presence” to be accurate and explain legal status, which is what I have been trying to explain to the Gold Dome for three years. He made a large mistake in the House committee the other day with his word game and now must cover to protect himself.
“Every person issued a Georgia driver’s license or ID card from DDS has provided documents showing proof that he or she is authorized to be in the United States.” TRUE. See “lawful presence.” Again, the intent of existing state law was to stop illegal aliens from obtaining a driver license. The original version of SB 6 was aimed at changing the language of the law to read “must have ‘legal status’ from “lawful presence.” All he had to do is make all of that clear. But clarity here will give away the game…
“The type of immigration document used to substantiate lawful status varies, but one thing is constant — DDS has verified that each person is authorized to be present in the United States for the term specified by the United States government and listed on their immigration document.” FALSE – (* Most of) the illegals show the work permit and SSN given to them through deferred action on deportation status that has given them “lawful presence.” He is very wrong here. Last year he was more cautious. They are still illegal aliens because they have no legal status. They cannot substantiate legal status, as they do not have it.
“The Federal government determines a non-citizen’s immigration status and term of authorized stay in the United States. Therefore, DDS does not issue driver’s licenses and/or identification cards to “illegal aliens.” FALSE: Aliens without legal status are illegal aliens. See what I mean about his tricky word games? Despite the fact that GA. has more illegals than Arizona., legislators have zero knowledge of any of this but want desperately for this to be correct. It isn’t. The WSB clarification was needed.
“Recent court decisions have ordered DDS to issue licenses to non-citizens who present documentation that they are authorized to remain in the United States regardless of how they entered the United States.” * TRUE. Not all illegal aliens with a Ga. DL have deferred action on deportation. There is a class of illegals who have been convicted of crimes (some very violent) and have already been ordered deported. But they are still on our streets. If they submit a ( knowingly futile ) request to become a US citizen, Obama was giving them a work permit and SSN. Presto, they get a Ga. DL with those docs. A Fulton Judge found for these aliens w/o legal status [15] after DDS stopped giving then a DL after about three years. Ga. did not appeal. They would have won, but then it would create to much noise… These illegal aliens have the code “C-18” (Deportable alien under order of supervision – page 12-23 [16]) on their work permit.
“The correction made by WSBTV’s Justin Farmer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBFv5YGARtM [17]) to a recent legislative news story which states that DDS has issued some licenses to “people here illegally” who have been temporarily deferred is not true.” FALSE: This statement on DDS is 100% inaccurate. Again, illegal aliens were granted deferred action on deportation and given work permits and SSNs. He is also opening holes in his last sentence on the “court decision” – already ordered deported goop.
“Each person issued a Georgia driver’s license or ID card has been verified to be in the United States lawfully and are not considered to be in the United States “illegally” at the time of their issuance.” TRUE: Because of the “lawful presence” status that came with the deferred action on deportation, they are not accruing unlawful presence. He seems to be reating the same attempt to cover himself a lot…
“DDS follows a stringent license/ID issuance procedure dictated by law. Improper reporting of this important process, circumvents the DDS mission of protecting the integrity of our issuance process.” TRUE and FALSE. We have no doubt that DDS is following state law on “lawful precense” – but the game here is to hide the fact that Georgia has been issuing DLs and ID cards to aliens without legal status since 2012 and to hinder the passage of a law to change the language to obtain original intent.
It looks a lot like DDS does not want the facts out there.
dak