I find the implications and unintended consequences of immigration policy fascinating, especially at the state and local levels which are more likely to deal with the nuances of how policies exist in practice. California’s AB 50 from 2013 allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses in an attempt to improve road safety. AB 50 is not necessarily a piece of immigration legislation itself; however, the population it affects are immigrants.  The unintended consequence of AB 50 is that ICE and similar entities can obtain the information — photos, address, etc — from people who have since applied for driver’s licenses. This article features the stories of several undocumented immigrants who applied for licenses under AB 50 and were tracked down by local ICE agents using the information given to the DMV , even though they broke no laws and had established lives and families here.

https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/how-california-laws-meant-to-integrate-immigrants-can-open-a-backdoor-for-ice/

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are policymakers at the state level responsible for the execution at the local level? Is being responsible for the policy making the same as being held accountable? Will they be held accountable?
  2.  Should the DMV be expected to cooperate if local ICE officials ask for information on immigrants who have broken no laws?
  3. This is an example of policy implications on a local level. What about implications for related policies at the national level (I’m thinking about DACA and DAPA)?