Arizona Will Sabotage DREAMers that Would Benefit from Obama’s Program

She couldn’t wait. On Aug. 15, Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, announced that she would use her executive power to keep any of the so-called DREAMers who defer deportation from receiving public benefits. That same day, Brewer made the announcement that around 1.7 million undocumented youth would be able to start the application process in a program that would allow them to defer deportation while granting them a temporary work permit.

The new program, approved by Obama two months ago through an executive order, went into effect on Aug. 15. It will stop deportation and grant a temporary work permit to young people who entered the country as children and have graduated from an American high school or enlisted in the army, as well as other conditions.

Nevertheless, Brewer thinks that the work permits will also help them become eligible for certain benefits that other U.S. taxpayers have paid for and she wants to avoid that. She issued an executive order that directs Arizona state agencies to take necessary measures. The order made it clear that it was urgent to prevent the DREAMers (the nickname that comes from the DREAM Act, which would have given them almost the same benefits if it voted into law) from obtaining an Arizona driver’s license or state identification card.

The state government claims that if Arizona’s 80,000 DREAMers are able to defer deportation, they will have “a significant and lasting impact on the Arizona budget, its healthcare systems, and additional public benefits that Arizona taxpayers fund.”

The Arizona state order would possibly cancel out some of benefits of the federal program, even if indirectly. Many of the youth who avoid deportation and get a work permit would find it very difficult to get to work without a driver’s license. What’s more, public universities would be able to deny aid to the immigrants. In principle, by becoming temporary residents of the state, they would be eligible for in-state tuition, like any other citizen. But Brewer’s decision would force institutions of higher education to reconsider that standard and continue classifying them out-of-state residents.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union stated on NBC that the governor had no legal basis for defending this measure because “… people who are granted deferred action will, in fact, have authorized presence in the United States and under Arizona law people who have authorized presence are eligible to apply for Arizona state identification.”

Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), one of the House of Representative’s great defenders of Hispanics, also condemned the decision. “When 73 percent of Arizonans support the DREAM Act, you can’t even accuse her of playing politics. She’s just being herself, hurting our economy and pulling families apart to please a small minority of the population,” the congressman said.

The governor claims, however, that she is only ensuring that undocumented immigrants do not spend public resources funded by U.S. citizens. She insists on calling the policy approved by Obama a “backdoor amnesty.” Brewer also insists on confronting the president over SB 1070, Arizona’s immigration law struck down by the Supreme Court two months ago.