Vol. 77/No. 5      February 11, 2013

Enacted by the Barack Obama administration June 15, 2012, the federal program offers temporary legal status to individuals who were brought to the U.S. before they were 16 years old, are not older than 30 today and met a series of other criteria.

The reversal came on the heels of a Jan. 21 protest of dozens of youth and their families outside the Iowa Department of Transportation. In subzero temperatures, the demonstrators chanted, ”Dreamers need wheels” and “What do we want? Driver’s licenses, When do we want them? NOW!” Cars honked in support as they drove by.

The youth who organized the protest are part of the “Dreamers Network.” The front page of the Des Moines Register ran an article titled, “DOT reverses license decision: Under pressure from activists, agency will let ‘dreamers’ drive in Iowa.”

“We have made the determination that based on what Homeland Security has outlined in its memorandum,” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals does not constitute an authorized presence in the country, Paul Trombino, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, told a Jan. 9 meeting of the state legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee, the Register reported.

Several had already received licenses, which Trombino said would be cancelled. The policy was supported by Gov. Terry Branstad.

It is estimated there are 5,000 immigrants living in Iowa that qualify for the program.

On Jan. 18, Homeland Security announced that “an individual who has received deferred action is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to be present in the United States, and is therefore considered by DHS to be lawfully present during the period deferred action is in effect.”

On Jan. 23 Trombino announced that driver’s licenses will be issued to those who fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“It means that the Latino community can be organized, that a new generation of Latino youth can be mobilized and continue to fight for our rights,” Hector Salamanca, 19, one of the protest organizers, told the Militant at a celebration of the victory.
 
 
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