A federal court of appeals in Arizona has told Republican Gov. Jan Brewer that it will not reconsider a ruling that resulted in an injunction blocking the state from denying illegal immigrants a driving license,
The Washington Post reported.
A
three-judge panel ruled in July that the policy was unconstitutional. The state asked that the case be reheard before the entire 11-judge Ninth Circuit.
None of the circuit's judges, however, asked for a vote to rehear the petition, according to
The Arizona Republic.
The result is that Arizona may not block driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.
Brewer had issued an executive order in 2012 denying licenses to some 20,000 illegals who fell under the criteria established by the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or Dreamers.
Under the program, those who were born after 1981 and brought illegally by their parents to the United States before June 15, 2007, are exempted from deportation.
Advocates for the Dreamers sued on the grounds that the Arizona policy "severely frustrates" the ability of those affected to "obtain employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency," according to the Post.
A spokeswoman for Brewer said the governor was considering taking the case to the Supreme Court, the Post reported.
Gov.-elect Doug Ducey, who supports Brewer's efforts, said through a spokesman that he would "adhere to the law once a final rendering has been reached," the Arizona Republic reported.