Haitian immigrants sue BMV over new law allowing Ukrainians to get driver's licenses
A group of Haitian immigrants in Indiana is suing the Bureau of Motor Vehicles with help from the ACLU because of a new driver’s license and identification card law that they say discriminates against them.
The law is H.E.A. 1050, which was passed by the Indiana General Assembly this year. It gives Ukrainians in the United States on humanitarian parole access to state ID cards and driver’s licenses.
The law, however, stops at Ukraine. It doesn’t offer those privileges to immigrants in the state from other countries who have come to the U.S. on humanitarian parole – like the Haitian immigrants who filed the suit.
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The five plaintiffs are allowed in the country for two years. They all live in Spencer and Hancock counties, and four of the five have jobs. The fifth plaintiff, a 9-year-old girl, is too young to work, but she's asking for access to an ID card.
Plaintiffs say without driving rights, they struggle to get to work
The lawsuit says the adults struggle to get to their jobs because they can't drive a personal vehicle. "These jobs are not within walking distance from their home, nor does public transportation exist that would transport any of them to or from their jobs," it states.
One of the plaintiffs passed the knowledge test and vision screening required for a learner's permit but was told by the BMV he wouldn't receive the permit because of H.E.A 1050, lawyers said.
IndyStar has requested comment from the BMV. The only defendant listed is the bureau’s commissioner.
If they can't get driver's licenses, they want access to ID cards because "businesses, other entities, and even law enforcement may not be familiar with, or may be skeptical of" their passports and employment authorizations.
ACLU: 'Quintessential national-origin discrimination'
Lawyers with the ACLU of Indiana say the law is "quintessential national-origin discrimination." They write in their complaint there’s “no legitimate government interest” in making the law exclusive to people from a single country. The law clashes with the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection of law for everyone, and the federal Civil Rights Act, they claim.
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They want a federal judge to declare the law illegal and force the BMV to grant licenses and ID cards, plus the ability to register and title vehicles, to humanitarian parolees from other countries.
How humanitarian parole works
The federal government created humanitarian parole pathways for foreign nationals from Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in recent years.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says humanitarian parole is granted “due to an emergency and urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit.” Parole opened up to Ukrainians in April 2022 because of the country’s war with Russia. Haitians were given a pathway in January along with Cubans and Nicaraguans.
To qualify, applicants need a supporter in the U.S. who can back them financially. Their information is also run through security checks. Parole gives them two years in the country, though they can apply for other immigration programs that would allow them to stay longer.
Haiti has been struggling with gang violence and unrest following a complex series of crises, including fuel shortages and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Almost half of the country's 11.7 million people need humanitarian aid in 2023, according to the United Nations, and 1.9 million need protection assistance partly because of the rise in violence by organized criminal groups.
Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Haitian immigrants sue BMV, say new driver's license law discriminates
