Emily Sortor  |  October 18, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Children of immigrants have filed a class action against Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles over allegedly discriminatory driver’s license laws.

Plaintiffs Erlin Lorena, Rodriguez Enamorado, J.G.R., and Maria Monjaraz, in conjunction with the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, have filed a class action lawsuit saying that Ohio denies driver’s licenses to children of immigrants who are not legal U.S. citizens.

The plaintiffs specifically take issue with the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles alleged requirement that a parent or guardian must prove that they have lawful immigration status to co-sign for a minor child seeking to get a driver’s license.

Allegedly, J.G.R., who is a 17-year-old young woman and a citizen of Honduras, is a resident of Ohio and tried to get her driver’s license. She says that she brought her mother, Enamorado, to co-sign for her.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles claims that the Deputy Registrar denied J.G.R.’s request for a driver’s license because Enamorado did not have a valid Ohio ID. J.G.R. says her mother presented a valid Honduran passport.

J.G.R. says that her request for a license was denied because her mother was not a U.S. citizen and did not have the required identification, so she asked a friend of her family, Jorge Pagon, to co-sign for her. Pagon allegedly had a valid ID.

However, J.G.R. and Pagon were reportedly rejected by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles because Pagon was not J.G.R.’s legal guardian.

Allegedly, the BVM does not allow others to co-sign for a minor’s driver’s license “unless he or she obtains custody or legal guardianship of the minor applicant.”

A.M. is a U.S. citizen and resident of Toledo, Ohio, and reportedly had a similar experience to J.G.R. when he attempted to apply for a driver’s license in Ohio.

Allegedly, his mother, Monjaraz, attempted to serve as his co-signer, and brought her valid Mexican consular identification card. 

The class action lawsuit says the two were rejected because Monjaraz did not have a valid U.S. ID or other proof of immigration status.

According to the Ohio Dreamers BMV class acton lawsuit, this policy is discriminatory because denying driver’s licenses to children of immigrants reduces their ability to “travel to their places of school and employment, transport other family members, provide identification for purposes of opening a bank account or obtaining employment, and otherwise participate fully in civic life.”

Allegedly, this policy conflicts with Ohio’s participation in the federal REAL ID Act, which requires all applicants to show proof of legal status.

The Ohio BMV class action lawsuit argues that children whose parents arrived illegally can still be legal U.S. residents, commonly known as Dreamers, and qualify for REAL ID compliant licenses, but are denied them under Ohio’s law.

J.G.R., A.M. and others are represented by Emily M. Brown, Kathleen C. Kersh, Mark J. Heller, and Eugenio Mollo Jr. of Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Inc.

The Ohio Immigrant Children Driver’s License Class Action Lawsuit is Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, et al. v. Don Petit, Registrar, Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, in his official capacity, Case No. 2:18-cv-01247-MHW-EPD, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.

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