{"id":2068,"date":"2012-10-03T00:10:47","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T00:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/need-a-drivers-license\/"},"modified":"2020-10-30T20:49:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T20:49:17","slug":"need-a-drivers-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/need-a-drivers-license\/","title":{"rendered":"Undocumented Immigrant And Need A Driver\u2019s License?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last Sunday, Governor Brown signed into law AB 2189. This bill would permit undocumented individuals who\u00a0are\u00a0given relief under the UCIS\u2019 Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals Process to receive a valid driver\u2019s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles. \u00a0For a person to be granted deferred action, the individual must meet the following requirements:<\/p>\n

1) Was under 31 years old on June 15, 2012;<\/p>\n

2) Came to the United States before his or her 16th<\/sup> birthday;<\/p>\n

3) Has continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007;<\/p>\n

4) Had no valid immigration status on June 15, 2012;<\/p>\n

5) Currently enrolled in school, have graduated or acquired a certificate of completion from high school, has obtained a GED certificate, or has been honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and<\/p>\n

6) Has not been convicted of a felony, a \u201csignificant misdemeanor\u201d, three or more other \u201cnon-significant\u201d misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.<\/p>\n

If you qualify and receive relief under this process, the next step would be to apply for a driver’s license. Then if you meet all other criteria for licensure, you will be given a California Driver License.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Why is it important to get a driver\u2019s license for traffic matters?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As you may notice, a person who has received too many misdemeanors will not be eligible for deferred action. Although a \u201cminor traffic offense\u201d such as \u201cdriving without a license\u201d will not count as a \u201cnon-significant misdemeanor\u201d, a person\u2019s entire offense history can still be considered in determining whether relief should be granted under the totality of the circumstances. The UCIS doesn\u2019t make it\u00a0clear if \u201cdriving without a license\u201d is the same as \u201cdriving on a suspended license.\u201d [1]<\/a> In California, \u201cdriving without a license\u201d (codified as CVC 12500) is different than \u201cdriving on a suspended license\u201d (codified as CVC 14601.) Both violations can be charged as misdemeanors but CVC 14601 is the more serious violation. It\u2019s important to note that a person can be charged for violating CVC 14601 even when they had no license on the date of their citation. This suspension happens because the DMV is suspending your privilege<\/strong> to drive and not necessarily the actual license. The license just reflects that privilege. A person can be charged with CVC 14601 for a variety of grounds, but the most common reason is a Failure To Appear. [2]<\/a> If you were charged with a Failure To Appear, your ticket is most likely in collections because you never showed up to court. A Failure To Appear is listed as a misdemeanor and if you pay collections the whole amount, a misdemeanor will be reflected on your record.\u00a0 Moreover, a valid driver\u2019s license will also help cut fines for other infractions such as showing no proof of automobile insurance.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0What if you have already been convicted of violating CVC 12500 or CVC 14601?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that under California Penal Code Section 19.8, a motion can be filed with the court to reduce these convictions from a misdemeanor to an infraction. Be aware a 1203.4 motion (commonly known as an expungement) does not work for immigration purposes, however a 19.8 motion does achieve results under federal review. [4]<\/a> Overall, getting relief for deferred action and obtaining a driver\u2019s license is symbiotic. You need to be granted relief in order to get a driver\u2019s license while you need a driver\u2019s license to help you stay clean in order to get relief. Possessing a valid driver\u2019s license can only benefit you.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re seeking legal advice, feel free to contact me here at the Law Offices of Mark A. Gallagher: (800) 797-8406 or email: hans.socaldefense@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n
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[1]<\/a> From The Q & A of the UCIS website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Q5: If I have a minor traffic offense, such as driving without a license, will it be considered a non-significant misdemeanor that counts towards the \u201cthree or more non-significant misdemeanors\u201d making me unable to receive consideration for an exercise of prosecutorial discretion under this new process?<\/strong>
\nA5: A minor traffic offense will not be considered a misdemeanor for purposes of this process.\u00a0However, your entire offense history can be considered along with other facts to determine whether, under the totality of the circumstances, you warrant an exercise of prosecutorial discretion.<\/p>\n

It is important to emphasize that driving under the influence is a significant misdemeanor regardless of the sentence imposed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a> See linked article<\/a> discussing CVC 14601.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a> Many courts will reduce fines as long as you have current valid insurance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/a> For further analysis, see article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday, Governor Brown signed into law AB 2189. This bill would permit undocumented individuals who\u00a0are\u00a0given relief under the UCIS\u2019 Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals Process to receive a valid driver\u2019s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles. \u00a0For a person to be granted deferred action, the individual must meet the following requirements: 1) Was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20,76],"tags":[330,331,332,23],"class_list":["post-2068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california-criminal-law-blog","category-california-traffic-ticket-blog","category-know-your-rights-constitutional-law-blog","tag-ab-2189","tag-california","tag-deferred-action-process","tag-dmv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5539,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\/revisions\/5539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}