IRLI Files Brief in the Ninth Circuit in Support of Arizona’s Right to Refuse Benefits to Illegal Al

June 10, 2015

Returning the Rule of Law to the People of Arizona

June 10, 2015

(Washington, D.C.) – This week the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of the state of Arizona who was sued by an illegal alien pressure group to force the state into granting eligibility for driver’s licenses to millions of illegal aliens falling under the Obama Administration’s lawless Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In the case of Arizona Dream Act Coalition v. Brewer (Civil Action No. 15-15307), the State Defendants are asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse the lower court’s decision to mandate that they issue the licenses or be in violation of the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Obama Administration has filed a friend-of-the-court brief on the side of the pressure groups plaintiffs.

In their brief (attached here), IRLI provides a clear and concise summary which argues, contrary to what’s asserted by the plaintiffs, DACA aliens are not like aliens with formal status who are allowed licenses in the state, first and foremost, because the program under which DACA aliens claim their status is in violation of federal law. IRLI also argues that, for the purposes of applying a level of judicial scrutiny to the facts of the case, a requirement for unequal treatment claims, the court should merely ask themselves, is Arizona’s policy “rationally related” to a legitimate state interest? IRLI asks the court to answer in the affirmative and confirm that keeping benefits out of the hands of illegal aliens is absolutely in the interest of the lawful residents of Arizona.

Dale L. Wilcox, IRLI’s Executive Director, commented, “By claiming DACA-recipients must be given driver’s licenses by the state of Arizona, Plaintiffs and the Obama Administration are claiming that the Executive has unlimited discretion in deciding who is and who is not allowed formal immigration status in this country. But as we detail in our brief, court precedent and the Constitution makes it clear that this decision has always been one for the American citizens through their representatives.” Wilcox further commented, “We will continue the fight for federalism and states’ rights and hold this administration accountable to the rule of law.”