NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hundreds of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in Tennessee say they have been denied driver's license renewals since October 1, a change many say came without warning.
Dreamers of Nashville shared a video showing a DACA recipient being turned away while trying to renew a driver's license.
"She said we can't do it. We can't renew it," Itzel Sanchez said.
Sanchez is one of hundreds of Dreamers in Tennessee who say they have been denied since October 1.
The state says applicants must prove authorized stay in the U.S., and a DACA work permit alone no longer qualifies someone for a driver's license. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said in a statement:
"T.C.A. 55-50-331(g) requires applicants for a temporary driver license to provide proof of a specified period of authorized stay in the United States. DACA is a form of deferred action and does not itself confer lawful immigration status according to the Federal Department of Homeland Security's Immigration Division. An employment authorization card, by itself, does not establish the status required to prove a specified period of authorized stay within the United States. As a result, some individuals who previously held a license could be affected at renewal if the federal documentation they present no longer establishes eligibility under State and Federal law."
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition believes changes tied to new state rules passed during a 2025 special session called by Governor Bill Lee may be contributing to the denials. The organization is asking the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security for more transparency about the policy.
TIRRC Votes Campaign Director Cesar Bautista said DACA provides critical support for those who arrived in the country at a young age.
"It's a program that allows individuals who came to the country really, really young to obtain a work permit, a Social Security number, and then just to continue contributing to their communities," Bautista said.
Since the program began in 2012, those who qualified and passed an extensive background check were able to visit DMV locations and obtain a driver's license. For 14 years, DACA recipients have paid around $500 every two years to renew their status. Recently, renewals that once took weeks have been taking months.
Sanchez said the denial left her struggling to understand the sudden change.
"I don't even know when this, like, why this took effect. I don't know when this happened. And I know a lot of people are like, we just do it the right way, but there is really no right way. I'm doing it the right way, the rightest way I can," Sanchez said.
As a 32-year-old realtor and mother of two, Sanchez described the impact the change will have on her daily life.
"I'm 32. I'm a mom of two, a five-year-old and a two-year-old. Taking them to school bringing them bringing the oldest back. Just working, just with my day-to-day grocery shopping, taking them to the museum. So in a month from today, a month and some days from today, I'm not gonna be able to drive, right?" Sanchez said.
Bautista warned the impact could extend well beyond individual families.
"If an individual cannot, if a teacher cannot get to their job, then that impacts the class setting, right? If they're not able to continue providing to their families, that impacts that community specifically. So in many ways it's going to have a ripple effect," Bautista said.
Sanchez said she is leaning on her faith as she waits to see what comes next.
"I felt very, very devastated with the simple act of, like, it's getting like harder to just prove who I am, you know. But at the same time I was just like I'm just gonna pray. I'm a big believer in God, and I was just gonna pray and leave it up to him," Sanchez said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@NewsChannel5.com
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