After months of deliberation, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles decided today it will grant driver’s licenses to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, which means the children of illegal immigrants can now qualify for Ohio driver’s licenses.DACA is an executive order signed by President Barack Obama that allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States legally. Immigration advocates argued the program qualified DACA recipients for driver’s licenses, and the BMV apparently agreed. The decision was reached after months of review, which began shortly after CityBeat originally reported on the issue through the story of Ever Portillo (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6). After a follow-up report confirmed the BMV was reviewing the issue, immigration advocates received a letter from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine showing his support. In the letter, DeWine wrote, “With these documents and any other documents normally required by the BMV, an individual can provide the BMV with the information necessary to receive a driver’s license.” Shortly after CityBeat published the information on DeWine’s letter, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which oversees the BMV, emailed CityBeat stating that DeWine’s stance will be taken under consideration. Brian Hoffman, an attorney who has been heavily involved in the issue, praised the BMV’s decision in an email to CityBeat and immigrant advocates. But he cautioned, “Given the earlier problems, it is not clear how long it will take for all deputy registrars to be made aware of this new guidance, or whether all of them are familiar with and have access to the necessary USCIS (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services) databases to comply with the extra security steps Ohio is requiring.”

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has been reviewing its driver’s license policy for the children of illegal immigrants for nearly two months now, but if it was up to Attorney General Mike DeWine, those people would already be eligible for driver’s licenses. In a letter to the Latino Affairs Commission dated to March 19, DeWine wrote, “It appears that the BMV would have to accept driver’s license applications from individuals that fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative because they can provide all of the information necessary.” DACA is an executive order signed by President Barack Obama that allows the children of illegal immigrants to qualify for a social security number and work permit. According to DeWine, that should be enough to qualify for an Ohio driver’s license: “With these documents and any other documents normally required by the BMV, an individual can provide the BMV with the information necessary to receive a driver’s license.” The BMV has been reviewing its driver’s license policy for DACA recipients for nearly two months. A previous CityBeat report found the BMV is granting driver’s licenses to some of the children of illegal immigrants, but what qualifies a few and disqualifies others is unclear. DeWine’s letter is not legally binding, but since it’s coming from the state’s top legal adviser, it could put pressure on the BMV’s legal team as it continues reviewing the Ohio’s driver’s license policy. “I encourage any citizen who is concerned about a law or policy to contact their legislators and voice that concern,” DeWine wrote. “As Attorney General, I do not have the authority to introduce or vote on legislation.” CityBeat originally broke the story regarding the BMV policy through the story of Ever Portillo, who was not able to receive a driver’s license despite being a DACA recipient (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6). CityBeat later heard stories and received documents showing what seemed to be internal confusion and conflict about the policy at the BMV. Between January and February, there was a noticeable shift in the BMV’s messaging from flat-out barring DACA recipients from obtaining driver’s licenses to reviewing the entire process — a change that might be attributable to the barrage of statewide media coverage on the issue after CityBeat's coverage.

Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) is granting driver’s licenses to some of the children of illegal immigrants, but what qualifies a few and disqualifies others is so far unknown. When CityBeat last covered the BMV policy (“Not Legal Enough,” issue of Feb. 6), Ever Portillo, a 22-year-old from El Salvador, was unable to get his license even when he was accompanied by his attorney at the West Broad Street BMV office in Columbus. Since then, Portillo returned to the same BMV office with his attorney, a community leader from DreamActivist Ohio and a reporter from The Columbus Dispatch and successfully obtained his license. At the same time, CityBeat received a tip from an anonymous illegal immigrant after she could not get a driver’s license for her son because, according to what she heard from the BMV, state policy is still being reviewed. The differences between Portillo and the woman’s experiences are reflected by what seems to be an internal conflict at the BMV, which CityBeat found in a series of internal documents sent by Brian Hoffman, Portillo’s attorney. In emails dating back to January, state officials wrote that “foreign nationals” with C33 Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) and I-797 documents with case types I-765D and I-821D cannot qualify for driver’s licenses. The documents are part of President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States without fear of prosecution. But a Feb. 13 memo from the BMV says Ohio has not issued a statewide policy on DACA for driver’s licenses and is currently reviewing the process. A Feb. 19 email echoes the memo, stating “neither the Department (of Public Safety) nor the BMV has yet issued a statewide broadcast to provide direction regarding the DACA issue.” In a Feb. 21 email, Lindsey Borher, spokesperson at the BMV, told CityBeat, “Our legal department is in the process of reviewing guidance from the federal government as it applies to Ohio law.” The discrepancy between January and February may be attributable to CityBeat originally breaking the story on the state policy, which was followed by a barrage of statewide media coverage on the issue.