Judge denies injunction vs. Tennessee licenses for Immigrants

A federal judge on Tuesday denied a Hispanic advocacy group's attempt to stop Tennessee's new system of granting driver's licenses only to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents. Under the system, people who pass the state's driving test but cannot prove U.S. citizenship get a purple card with a photo and a label that reads, "Certificate of Driving - For Driving Purposes Only, Not Valid for Identification." The League of United Latin American Citizens filed suit in July, saying Tennessee's two-tiered system was discriminatory, and asked the judge to halt the program. But U.S. District Court Judge Todd J. Campbell said in his ruling that the group had not shown there would be "imminent irreparable harm if an injunction does not issue." Jerry Gonzalez, who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the state, said Tennessee was using the crutch of homeland security to enforce a discriminatory program. [more ]