NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Immigrants in Tennessee who hold federal work permits, including young people enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, are being turned away when they try to renew their driver licenses, a result of an immigration law lawmakers passed in 2025.
The measure, HB6001, rewrote the state statutes covering temporary licenses. Anyone seeking one must now document a set length of time the federal government has cleared them to remain in the country, and state officials have concluded that neither DACA status nor a stand-alone employment authorization card meets that test.
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security explained its reading in a written statement. The department said DACA is a form of deferred action that does not itself grant lawful immigration status, so some people who held a license before may lose eligibility when they come in to renew.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition says dozens of people have reported failed renewals since Oct. 1, and that clerks typically tell them only that a policy change took effect. The group estimates roughly 6,000 DACA recipients live in Tennessee. It has also heard from people in the C8 work permit category, which federal immigration officials issue to asylum seekers whose cases are still pending.
Without a license, affected residents are leaning on rides from relatives and friends or paying for app-based car services to get to jobs and classes. The coalition is asking the state for more transparency and is holding virtual information sessions, with the next one set for Oct. 29.
DACA dates to 2012 and shields certain people brought to the U.S. as children from deportation while allowing them to work, though it offers no path to citizenship. Recipients renew every two years. Federal immigration officials currently accept and process renewal requests under a court order but are not processing first-time applications, and existing grants and work cards stay valid until they expire.
Federal guidance urges recipients to file renewals 120 to 150 days before their current approval runs out to avoid a gap in work authorization.
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