Law Commons^™

Removing Roadblocks: Alternatives To Lawful Status And Social Security Number Requirements For Pennsylvania Driver’S Licenses, Miranda Sasinovic

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

As part of their traditional state police powers, states determine the eligibility requirements for their driver’s licenses. Standard eligibility requirements include proof of age, residency, identity, and knowledge. In the 1990s, some states amended their vehicle codes to require proof of lawful status, effectively barring undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses.

In response to inconsistent issuance and verification standards, Congress passed the REAL ID Act of 2005. The Act prohibits federal agencies from accepting state driver’s licenses for official purposes unless states comply with minimum issuance and verification standards. These standards include requirements to verify Social Security numbers and lawful …

Health Care Sanctuaries, Medha D. Makhlouf

Faculty Scholarly Works

It is increasingly common for noncitizens living in the United States to avoid seeing a doctor or enrolling in publicly funded health programs because they fear surveillance by immigration authorities. This is the consequence of a decades-long shift in the locus of immigration enforcement activities from the border to the interior, as well as a recent period of heightened immigration enforcement. These fears persist because the law incompletely constrains immigration surveillance in health care.

This Article argues that immigration surveillance in health care is a poor choice of resource allocation for immigration enforcement because it has severe consequences for health …

A Pathway To Health Care Citizenship For Daca Beneficiaries, Medha D. Makhlouf, Patrick J. Glen

Faculty Scholarly Works

Since 2012, beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) have enjoyed a certain normalization, however tenuous, of their status in the United States: they can legally work, their removal proceedings are deferred, and they cease to accrue unlawful presence. Regarding subsidized health coverage, however, DACA beneficiaries remain on the outside looking in. Although other deferred action beneficiaries are eligible for benefits through Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act, the Obama Administration specifically excluded DACA beneficiaries. This decision undermines DACA’s goal of legitimizing beneficiaries’ presence in the United States. From a health policy perspective, it …