How to apply for a driver's license while being undocumented in Ohio

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In States United there are several places that grant the privilege of driving to undocumented, but Ohio does not belong to that list . In this state there is no parallel credential to the standard driver’s license like the AB 60 of California, which is the result of a bill, passed several years ago, to favor this sector of the population . However, some immigrants asked to obtain a valid driver’s license in the state thanks to the federal Deferred Action for Persons with Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program, a program created during the Barack Obama administration. which has been much discussed since then.

Said program allowed immigrants to come to the country as children (also known as dreamers ) have certain benefits , mainly protection against deportation and certain facilities to obtain employment. According to The New York Times , on average, “the DACA recipients are 25 years and the oldest are in the years late thirties. The vast majority of dreamers came to the United States from Mexico, although many others were born in Central and South America, Asia and the Caribbean. ”

Thanks to this measure, a year later After the creation of the program, some young immigrants in the state of Ohio – and elsewhere in the country – were able to obtain a driver’s license through the Office of Vehicles Ohio Motorized (BMV). However, for this purpose, the program presented several irregularities, as reported at the time

minutes , since some branches considered these young people eligible and others not, due to their “legally present” condition, a condition that offered them a certain legal status for two years to opt for a job and a renewable Social Security number every two years, but that It is not equivalent to “legal status”, which is the highest privilege that immigrants can achieve.

For now, applications under the DACA program have been suspended, despite the fact that almost 700, 06 people who benefited in the past are still protected by it . According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): “The 16 July 2021, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas argued that the DACA policy “is illegal” The Court, however, temporarily suspended its order nullifying the DACA memorandum and its court order regarding persons who obtained DACA on or before 16 July 2021, including those with renewal requests DHS [Department of Homeland Security] will continue to accept the submission of initial and renewal DACA applications, as well as employment authorization applications submitted with them. However, in accordance with the order of 16 of 2021 Southern District of Texas, DHS is prohibited from granting initial DACA applications and authorization requests accompanying employment. In addition, pursuant to that order, DHS will continue to grant or deny DACA renewal requests, in accordance with existing policy. ”

During the Donald Trump administration, this program was in danger of disappearing , however, it remained and has remained in a kind of limbo that forces certain immigrants to regularize their immigration status before doing any kind of of request.

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