New Deferral Program for Unauthorized Immigrants Charged with NOL

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a Stanford University study suggesting that granting driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants improves overall traffic safety. That approach is not an option in North Carolina, where unauthorized immigrants have been ineligible to obtain a driver’s license, learner’s permit or identification card since 2006. Recognizing that many unauthorized immigrants drive regardless of whether they are licensed, the district attorney in Orange and Chatham Counties announced this week a new policy for disposing of no operator’s license charges against such drivers, provided they meet certain conditions. The News and Observer reports that the district attorney’s office in Orange and Chatham Counties will dismiss charges of no operator’s license, a Class 3 misdemeanor, if the person charged is ineligible to be licensed for immigration-related reasons and he or she provides an identification card and completes a driving school and civics education course. Orange County Justice United, a nonprofit advocacy group that lobbied for the change, has posted this overview of the deferral program on its website. The overview document states that the program will not be available to individuals charged with no operator’s license in conjunction with other charges or who are ineligible to be licensed due to prior revocations, moving violations, unpaid tickets, or other offenses. Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall told reporters that the program would provide driver’s education to a group of citizens who had not before received that type of instruction and would help to build trust between the law enforcement and immigrant communities. [...]