A coalition of immigration attorneys is suing Tennessee over a new policy that denies drivers’ licenses to thousands of immigrants in the state.
For years, non-U.S. citizens could get a temporary drivers’ license using a valid work permit to show they had federal permission to be in the U.S.
In recent weeks, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security has stopped accepting work permits as documentation for license applications and renewals.
The change means asylum seekers and immigrants protected by DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, won’t be able to legally drive in the state.
L.R., a nurse and DACA recipient in East Tennessee, has an hour-long commute to the rural hospital in which he works. At a Friday press conference, he told reporters it’s impossible to find a ride to work and too costly to Uber.
“We are already experiencing a nursing shortage,” he said. “With one less nurse on the floor, this has left them dealing with higher patient-to-nurse ratios.”
L.R., like the six plaintiffs who signed onto the lawsuit, are not using their full name to protect their identity.
For many, losing the ability to drive has meant losing their job. Ale Z. had been working as a therapist for children with disabilities before the state rejected her license renewal. Now, she said, she’s out of work and doesn’t have the means to take her own son to medical appointments.
State response
The new rule stems from a 2025 omnibus immigration law that established a new state division to coordinate immigration enforcement between federal and state agencies. Although the law has been fully in effect since Jan. 1, the department didn’t announce the change until September.
Department of Safety may have violated its own rules around policy changes, according to a lawsuit filed Friday by the National Immigration Law Center, the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and law firm Bass, Berry & Sims. The agency did not allow for public comment or wait to 90 days to implement the change after formally announcing it, as required by Tennessee code.
Gov. Bill Lee told reporters Wednesday that he had just been made aware of the change and was looking into the possibility of legislative “unintended consequences.” The 2025 sweeping immigration law was the product of a special session Lee called to, in part, address immigration enforcement in the state.
The Tennessee General Assembly has continued focusing on immigration, passing a host of laws crafted in coordination with the Trump administration. One law requiring beneficiaries of public programs to prove their immigration status drew similar scrutiny in June when it jeopardized the medical care of severely sick and disabled children.
At the time, the legislation’s sponsor, Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson, said he hadn’t intended for the restrictions to apply to children. A group of doctors sued on behalf of their patients, and a judge temporarily blocked the law’s enforcement.
The lawsuit over licenses is making a similar ask: for the court to stop enforcement of the law while the legal challenge moves forward.
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