One of the
first things that many noncitizens want to do after getting immigration status
is to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and get their driver’s
licenses. Unfortunately, for more and
more noncitizens, the simple process of trying to get a driver’s license can
end up leading to felony criminal charges and deportation.
The process,
which seems to be happening more and more often, generally goes something like
this: A noncitizens who has previously
applied for or obtained a license or ID under a fake name gets legitimate
immigration status or work authorization from Department of Homeland Security
(DHS). When he takes his legitimate
documents to apply for a license, the DMV matches the person to the previous
attempt to get a license under a fake name.
The match to the previous application for a license with false
information is generally made through fingerprints or through facial
recognition software. Then, DMV will
just let the applicant know that there is an issue and “invite” them to come
back in for a meeting with an investigator to discuss the matter. At that meeting, an officer will try to get
the noncitizen to confess to fraudulently trying to get an ID in the past. After the confession, an arrest soon follows.
Noncitizens
can be charged with multiple felonies on these cases, including the attempt to
influence a public official, forgery, criminal impersonation, and identity
theft. After the arrest, the information
is turned over to immigration officials to be used against the noncitizen in
deportation proceedings. Convictions for
these charges can have devastating immigration consequences.
The bottom
line is that noncitizens applying for their licenses must know that information
they give officers at the DMV can be used against them to support serious
criminal charges. Any noncitizen who has
ever applied for an ID by giving any false information must be especially
careful and should seek qualified immigration and criminal defense counsel before applying for a driver’s license. If the noncitizen finds himself in a
situation where he is being questioned about past applications, he should
request the opportunity to consult with a lawyer and invoke his right to remain
silent.
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