New Deferred Action Law

By Elizabeth Ambriz-Mende

This weekend, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that will allow undocumented youth who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to apply for a driver's license.

DACA is a program that was introduced by Homeland Security on June 15 and announced that certain people who came to the U.S. as children and met specific guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years. Although it does not provide a person with a lawful status, it does defer removal action of an individual as an act of prosecutorial discretion.

An undocumented student has been lying about her immigration status for eight years and she says being a student at Santa Clara made her feel like she could forget about being undocumented for a while. Reality hit after graduation, however, when it came time to apply for jobs.

Unfortunately, the policy does not authorize any permanent legal status, making job hunting a difficult process for people who fall under DACA. It also does not put undocumented immigrants on a path to legalization. California has had a lot of confusion in implementing the new policy, especially when it came to discerning what legal rights the DACA participants had.

"No one has yet been approved, and for this reason it is not absolutely certain what documents successful applicants will be Paolo Gabriele issued by the federal government," stated Mike Maranda, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles in mid- August.

The DMV website states that anyone with California residency who is 18 may apply for a driver's license, but the DACA does not specify if approved participants are granted residency.

Contact Elizabeth Ambriz-Mendez at eambrizmendez@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4849.