A federal lawsuit claims a new Indiana law unfairly prevents most immigrants from accessing state driver’s licenses or identification cards.
(Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)
A federal lawsuit filed last week claims a new Indiana law unfairly prevents most immigrants from accessing state driver’s licenses or identification cards, as well as registering and titling vehicles.
The legal challenge was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana and the National Immigration Law Center on behalf of five Haitian immigrants who want to obtain an Indiana driver’s license or identification card.
In contention is a state law passed during Indiana’s 2023 legislative session that creates a pathway for individuals on humanitarian parole to obtain Indiana driver’s licenses or identification cards — but only if they are from Ukraine.
The lawsuit claims that by allowing individuals from only that country to obtain an I.D. — but not permitting the same opportunity to Haitian refugees — House Enrolled Act 1050 represents national-origin discrimination and is unconstitutional.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims the new law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Our clients are being denied access to state-issued IDs solely because they are Haitians and not Ukrainians,” said Gavin M. Rose, a senior attorney with the ACLU of Indiana. “Non-Ukrainians on humanitarian parole are left struggling to get to work, to keep medical appointments, to take children to school, and more, all because they cannot drive.”
The ACLU holds that the federal government can temporarily admit a noncitizen to the United States “for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit,” under “humanitarian parole.” In recent years the federal government has authorized the entry of noncitizens from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua due to humanitarian crises in those countries.
People on humanitarian parole from other countries could also benefit from being allowed to drive or obtain state-issued identification, according to the nonprofit.
Court documents indicate that the plaintiffs in the case are authorized to work in the United States and all hold steady jobs, but they have to rely on others for rides to work. According to the complaint, the ability to drive is of “fundamental importance in American society, particularly in cities and towns in Indiana where services are frequently dispersed and where public transportation is not ubiquitous.”
“The federal government regulates immigration — not the states,” said Chiraayu Gosrani, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement. “The State of Indiana cannot create immigration classifications that conflict with federal law, and here they have done just that in an effort to unconstitutionally discriminate against people with humanitarian protections who are overwhelmingly immigrants of color.”
One bipartisan measure that specifically sought to offer “driving privilege” cards to all immigrants without documentation died in the 2023 session. But Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb later signed a separate omnibus bill in May that included a provision to make the cards an option for Ukrainian refugees.
The plaintiffs are now asking a judge to issue an injunction, allowing anyone on humanitarian parole from countries other than Ukraine to obtain driver’s licenses and identification cards, and to register and title vehicles, just as those from Ukraine can do. Ultimately, the lawsuit seeks to strike down the law in whole on the basis that it’s unconstitutional and discriminatory.
