A year after a law was passed allowing Ukrainian immigrants on humanitarian parole to receive driver’s licenses, a federal judge recently ruled that the law should apply to all parolees. In response, Indiana lawmakers are seeking to repeal the law.
The bill, which passed the House of Representatives on Monday with bipartisan support, would repeal a law that allows people from Ukraine to legally obtain driver’s licenses in the United States under a narrow parole definition. A group of Haitian immigrants living in Indiana under the same federal designation sued the state over the law, calling it discriminatory and unconstitutional.
In mid-January, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order invalidating a provision of Ukrainian law that allows all immigrants on humanitarian parole to obtain temporary licenses in the state.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the National Immigration Law Center are representing Haitian immigrants in an ongoing lawsuit seeking to permanently reverse the Ukraine provision.
Gavin Rose, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Indiana, told The Associated Press it’s unclear how the bill (House Bill 1162) would affect litigation if it becomes law.
Republican Indiana Congressman Jim Pressel votes in favor of House Bill 1162 at the Indiana State Capitol on Monday, February 5, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Isabella Vollmert)
“It is clear that Congress will not allow Ukrainians to qualify simply because Indiana is required to extend credentials to people from countries such as Haiti who are allowed to enter and work in the same way as Ukrainians. “Obviously, it would be very concerning if we removed the rights,” the United States did because of its own dire humanitarian crisis,” Rose said in an email.
Republicans argue that extending this privilege to all people on parole makes states vulnerable to federal immigration classifications that are beyond federal immigration control.
The bill’s author, Republican Rep. Jim Pressel, told lawmakers Thursday that the lawsuit has made the situation “chaotic” and challenges the federal definition of parole, which includes people from multiple countries. chanted. He said he wants a debate in the Senate on how to ensure the intent of last year’s law.
Rep. Matt Lehman, the House Republican leader, said allowing all parolees to obtain a license would open the door to “coveted positions” for “dishonest” people.
He told lawmakers Thursday that he “doesn’t believe that our immigration policy at the national level is that the position is so coveted.” “I think that position is being given to people that we might have problems with.”
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The bill passed 89-8 without debate in the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives and now heads to the state Senate.
