Louisiana Teens with Immigrant Parents Sue Over Alleged Denial of Driver’s License Applications

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A proposed class action seeks to challenge an allegedly discriminatory Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) policy that renders U.S.-born and lawfully present minors ineligible for a driver’s license or state-issued identification if their immigrant parents do not have a U.S. driver’s license or ID card.

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According to the 35-page lawsuit, Louisiana OMW policy states that when a minor between the ages of 14 and 17 applies for a temporary instructional permit, intermediate license, driver’s license or identification card, their parent “must be present and provide his/her Louisiana driver’s license, permit or identification card in person.”

The complaint, filed against Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary James M. LeBlanc and Louisiana OMW Commissioner Karen G. St. Germain, contends that the agency’s failure to accept immigrant parents’ foreign passports or other valid documentation as proof of identity to co-sign their child’s application is ultimately “unconstitutional.”

Specifically, the filing alleges that the defendants have violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by discriminating against these teens—“all of whom are either U.S. citizens or are currently authorized by the federal government to be present in the United States”—based on their parents’ alienage, national origin and/or immigration status.

One of the suit’s three plaintiffs, a 16-year-old born in New Orleans whose parents are Honduran immigrants, says her driver’s license application was rejected at the Harvey OMV location in June 2023 because her father does not possess and cannot obtain a U.S. driver’s license or ID since he does not meet the requisite immigration status. The plaintiff claims the OMV staff would not accept her father’s unexpired Honduran passport as sufficient documentation and told her to “come back when [she] turns 18.”

“Defendants’ discriminatory policy and practice deprives Plaintiffs and hundreds of youths like them across Louisiana of a necessary credential for gaining independence, supporting themselves, assisting their families financially, attending school and extra curricula activities, attending religious activities, visiting relatives, and engaging in normal activities of daily living,” the case contends. “Defendants’ discriminatory policy and practice also impedes a familiar rite of passage for these teenagers.”

The filing further claims the OMV has violated these minors’ constitutional rights and state law by failing to notify them that they can file an appeal or seek review of denied applications.

The lawsuit looks to represent any minors ages 14 to 17 residing in Louisiana who are U.S. citizens or lawfully present and eligible to apply for a temporary instructional permit, intermediate license, driver’s license, or identification card but have been denied the right to apply because their parents or legal guardians lack a U.S. driver’s license or identification card.

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