Driver's license case goes to court

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The long-anticipated challenge to the Department of Public Safety’s requirement that noncitizens prove legal immigration status for a driver's license will be in federal court this afternoon for a first court hearing.

Civil rights groups filed the case in federal court in January on behalf of three women who were in the country legally but were denied a drivers license. The Texas Civil Rights Project, which represents the plaintiffs, has filed initial motions to stop the Department of Public Safety from applying the new rules.

The Department of Public Safety, represented by the Attorney General’s Office, filed its response on Friday. In its brief, the state argues that no one is guaranteed a constitutionally protected “right” to a driver license.And that citing administrative difficulties of a handful of people would not necessarily indicate that there was a problem with the system. Attorneys also are protesting the addition of new plaintiffs to the case.

Changes to the driver's license process were filed, by administrative procedure, last fall and are supported by Gov. Rick Perry, who said the new procedures would keep the state safer and would be another avenue to prevent fraud and identity theft.

Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project called the revised procedures cumbersome and inflexible, especially when it came to the specific documentation required. Under the rules, noncitizens are required to present an employment authorization document, or EAD, every six months in order to renew their licenses or keep those licenses in good standing.

The case goes before US District Judge Lee Yeakel at 2 p.m. on Monday.