The Independent View: Nebraska Ends Ban on Driver's Licenses for DACA Youths

Nebraska ended the nation's last ban on driving privileges for young people brought into the United States illegally as children, after the Legislature voted Thursday to override a veto from the state's new Republican governor. Senators in the one-house Legislature voted 34-10 to override Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has backed the strict policy of his GOP predecessor that left Nebraska as the only state to deny the licenses to the youths granted temporary protection from deportation. Senators said Nebraska youth who have been granted deferred-action status are active contributors to the state's economy and should not be penalized for their parents' actions.

President Barack Obama announced an executive action in 2012 that creates the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which gives the youths a Social Security number, a two-year work permit and protection from deportation. Although a few states initially announced that they would deny licenses to those youths, only Arizona and Nebraska ultimately adopted policies to exclude them. A court blocked Arizona's law in July, leaving in place only Nebraska's, which former Gov. Dave Heineman approved three years ago.

The deferred-action category applies to youths who are at least 15 years old, arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday, were under 31 in 2012, have lived continuously in the U.S. since 2007 and are in school or working toward a degree. An estimated 2,700 recipients of the program have been raised and educated in Nebraska.

The bill was propelled forward with bipartisan support that included ranching groups, the Nebraska Restaurant Association and conservative Omaha mayor Jean Stothert, who say the youths need driver's licenses to hold and maintain jobs in industries that need them.

Nebraska Cattlemen President Dave McCracken called the law a "common sense measure" to provide "a strong employee base in rural Nebraska."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska is challenging the policy in court. ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad said last week that the lawsuit persists as the ACLU watches how the executive administration and Department of Motor Vehicles respond.