A legislative committee is hearing arguments on an Iowa Department of Transportation policy that prohibits driver's licenses for certain young immigrants allowed by a new federal rule to live here.
The Administrative Rules Review Committee is considering Wednesday the DOT rule which doesn't allow driver's licenses or identification cards to be issued to immigrants brought into the U.S. as children by parents who were not legal residents.
President Obama has enacted a policy that lets these immigrants seek a renewable, two-year reprieve from deportation if they meet specific age, residency and education requirements.
The Iowa DOT says the policy doesn't make the immigrants legal citizens so it can't issue licenses. The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups are fighting the DOT saying licenses should be granted.
