Transportation Secretary Tony Tata and Motor Vehicles Commissioner James Forte say they will announce their decision at 4 p.m. today on whether to comply with a Jan. 17 ruling from the state Attorney General's Office that said DMV should issue driver's licenses to young illegal immigrants taking part in a federal program that postpones their deportation.

(2/15/13 update: See story with reader comments: N.C. to give driver's licenses to immigrants in Deferred Action program.)

The issue affects teens and young adults – estimated at 18,000 to 50,000 in North Carolina – who were brought to the United States illegally as children. The Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program provides two-year work permits, and a deferral of deportation, for = young immigrants who meet certain qualifications.

Non-citizens who apply for driver’s licenses must provide documents to prove their “legal presence” in North Carolina, under state law. Former DMV Commissioner Mike Robertson asked Attorney General Roy Cooper in September for legal advice on whether DACA participants meet that requirement.

Yes, Cooper's office replied in a Jan. 17 letter from Grayson Kelley, chief deputy attorney general. DACA work permits show that the federal government has certified that their presence here is legal for two years. It does not change their long-term status as illegal immigrants, Kelley wrote. ... [MORE]

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest said Saturday that President Barack Obama was wrong to defer deportation for some immigrants who entered the United States illeglly as children, and the state attorney general's office was wrong in issuing its opinion that participants in the deferred-action program are legally eligible to get driver's licenses in North Carolina. (Update: DACA participants demonstrate at DOT building. See 1/23/13 story with reader comments.)

"A person entering the United States illegally should not be afforded the privileges reserved for US citizens," Forest, a Republican, said in an email statement released by his chief of staff, Hal Weatherman. "The President is willfully ignoring the laws on the books and should be Constitutionally challenged on this point by our Congress. While Congress has not acted, we in North Carolina can and should. We are a sovereign state and need to stand up and push back when the Feds encroach on our ability to protect our citizens and enforce our laws. The Attorney General's ruling leaves open the possibility that the DMV can issue licenses to those individuals who came to our country and state illegally. I disagree with this action." ... [MORE]

After announcing Thursday that they were “reviewing” a legal opinion issued that day by the state attorney general’s office, state transportation officials said Friday that they were “carefully assessing” it.

That means the state Division of Motor Vehicles has not decided whether it will comply with the attorney general’s recommendation that it should issue driver’s licenses to young illegal immigrants taking part in a federal program that postpones their deportation for two years.(1/19/13 update: Lt. Gov. Dan Forest weighs in.)

Grayson G. Kelley, chief deputy state attorney general, advised DMV Thursday that it should do so (see 1/18/13 story with reader comments). ... [MORE]

The state attorney general's office said today that the state Division of Motor Vehicles should resume issuing driver's licenses to young illegal immigrants who are participating in the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which defers deportation for some young adults who arrived in the United States as children. (See Anne Blythe's story.)

The announcement came in a 3-page letter (see copy attached below) from Grayson Kelley, chief deputy attorney general, to Eric Boyette, the acting DMV commissioner, four months after former DMV Commissioner Mike Robertson said DMV would stop issuing licenses to DACA participants, pending a legal opinion from the attorney general (see 1/15/13 story with reader comments and earlier blog post for background and Robertson's Sept. 10 letter).

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