Legislature ends ban on licenses for young immigrants

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska ended the nation’s last ban on driving privileges for young people brought into the U. S. 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 youths who have been granted deferred- action status are active contributors to the state’s economy and should not be penalized for their parents’ actions.

“Forty- nine other states recognize this hypocrisy. ... Let’s make it 50,” said Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island.

President Obama announced an executive action in 2012 that creates the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gives the youths a Social Security number, a two- year work permit and protection from deportation.

Although a few states initially said 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 in 2012.

The override is the third in a series of showdowns between the Ricketts and Nebraska senators. The vote came just one day after the Legislature repealed the death penalty in a historic veto override and two weeks after senators voted to override Ricketts on a fuel tax increase.

The bill was propelled forward with bipartisan support that included ranching groups, the Nebraska Restaurant Association and conservative Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert.