The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
The state Department of Motor Vehicles doesn't have to accept federal working papers as proof of legal presence in America from those applying for a driver's license or other form of identification, according to a legal opinion by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
But it isn't prohibited from doing so either, Cuccinelli said.
The guidance comes about two months after Gov. Bob McDonnell instructed the DMV to stop accepting a federal employment document provided to immigrants as a way to show they are here lawfully when applying for a license.
In his opinion, dated Friday, Cuccinelli advised DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb that his department "has the authority to accept or to refuse to accept" the federal Employment Authorization Document.
That's consistent with state law, which "gives the commissioner and no one else the discretion to decide what documents are used to prove legal presence," Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a lobbyist who works on immigration issues, said after the release of the opinion.
She urged Holcomb "to use that discretion to reinstate acceptance of the Employment Authorization Document."
Despite that plea, it appears unlikely the current policy will change any time soon.
"Until the federal government can provide clear assurances that everyone who has an EAD is lawfully in this country, we will direct the DMV to continue not accepting this paperwork for purposes of receiving a Virginia driver's license," McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin wrote in an e-mail.
Holcomb also sought guidance on whether the DMV has the power to take action if the holder of a state-issued license or identification card is the subject of deportation proceedings.
Responding to that query, Cuccinelli told Holcomb that the DMV lacks the authority to rescind previously issued state forms even in the event of deportation but can require a person to provide proof of lawful status if he or she applies for a renewal.
McDonnell in September ordered the DMV to cease taking the federal document as proof of residence amid concerns about whether it reflects a person's current status in the country.
The issue arose after Carlos Martinelly-Montano, a 23-year-old from Bolivia with two drunken driving convictions, was charged in an August crash in Prince William County that left a woman dead and two others seriously injured. Police said Martinelly-Montano was drunk at the time of that crash.
Martinelly-Montano had received a federal employment document in 2009 while deportation proceedings were under way, the governor's office said in a September statement. The statement noted that he did not have a driver's license at the time of the crash but had used the employment document to apply for a state identification card.
At the time, McDonnell said "the integrity of the credentials issued by the commonwealth is of the utmost importance."
Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
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legal vs illegal
The question is not foreigners. All are welcome to visit, live, experience the USA. All are welcome to respect, abide by the laws of the USA during their stay.If you are not a citizen, documentation to get a license should include a start/expiration date of legal status.It's quite simple. Yes there are bad apples and politics, but we have to start some where. Legal visitors with a desire to live, work, respect America are welcome. Illegal visitors are not.Part of being responsible is to abide and respect the laws of the country you are in while preserving your own culture.This includes legal entry. If your culture or country of origin clashes with the laws of America - don't come. There are other countries that may mutally suit your needs
Keep the feds out of State business
I guess this means that VA DMV will no longer will accept military ID cards, which are a federal document, for driver's license purposes. After all many aliens are enlisted in the armed forces as an alternate route to US citizenship. If they aren't citizens they shouldn't get a state driver's license. Although the initial skirmish of "States Rights" was lost in 1865, the war isn't over yet! The AG needs to keep up the good fight.
Pick One
If you want a licence come up with Certificate of Citizenship or naturalization, Resident Alien Card, or a valid foreign passport with a visa and I-94. I'm betting that anyone who can't cough up one of these is an illegal. Things got tougher for everyone after 9/11. Suck it up.
Another Cuccinelli
Another Cuccinelli "opinion".
Or Unopinion
He said it up to the DMV. The DMV works for the gov who says no. I guess that answers that question.
hmmm
Wonder what they are going to do about the foreign government workers in Northern VA and the ones that work for NASA?
Maybe with less illegals
Maybe with less illegals going to DMV, I wont have to wait in line as long...
If you are a foreign
If you are a foreign national legally in the US you will have a Passport. If you are looking for work you will have a work visa. No one here legally should suffer from this requirement.
We need to do a better job protecting our borders. It is not just Mexicans who are closing our southern border illegally into the United States. There is a special detention facility in Arizona where the U.S. holds hundreds of foreign nationals who enter the US illegally from Mexico but who are from nations like Iraq, Pakistan, and Iran.
Huh
The EAD is the work visa.
huh?
A visa is a document that allows you to enter the country, usually specifying a period of time that you can reside in the country and is stamped in your passport. An employment authorization card tells an employer that you can legally work in the country (not everyone who enters the country legally can work here, i.e. tourists). So proof of legally entering the US does not qualify you to work. Legal immigrants who do not hold a green card will have "not valid without DHS approval" stamped on their social security card. DHS approval is the Employment Authorization Card. You still need a separate document that allows you to legally enter the country, this is your visa, green card, passport from a visa waiver country, etc.