Indiana legislation enables Dreamers' career goals

The loophole stems from 2011 legislation dealing with immigration. The law mandates that state agencies verify license applicants are a U.S. citizen or a qualified alien.

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) participants are not legally U.S. citizens, but are eligible to work in the United States. The 2011 immigration law which created this loophole predates DACA, which was created by then-President Barack Obama in 2012.

The seven-year-old law, though, wasn’t enforced until last year, said state Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, who introduced an amendment to an existing bill that should close the loophole.

“It’s my understanding that in August of last year, the [Indiana Professional Licensing Agency] started changing application forms for all licensed professions and it completed that process in November. During that time countless DACA participants ... completed training or are enrolled in classes with expectation of receiving a license and are now ineligible, whether it’s for a new license or renewal,” Clere said.

The House Committee for Government and Regulatory Reform voted 9-0 to attach the amendment to an existing Senate bill already dealing with state licensing.

Senate Bill 419 started as a bill that sought to prevent duplicate licensing, Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Syracuse, explained during the committee meeting. “What we are finding in different industries, trades and occupations is that you can be licensed to practice … in the state of Indiana and still have to have [further] licensing in various communities,” he said.

The amendment was last-minute, said committee chair Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hartford City, who said that he didn’t expect to hear the bill on Tuesday, but noted he knew Clere had nowhere else to insert the needed language.

Clere, himself, didn’t even know there was a problem to be addressed until he went to get his usual haircut a few weeks ago.

That legislator regularly gets his hair cut at Prosser School of Cosmetology in New Albany. Around 1,300 students from 20 high schools in six counties come to Prosser Career Education Center to learn different trades, Principal Nancy Campbell said.

During his visit, Clere was introduced to a student who recently graduated, but who could not apply for her license because of her DACA status.

“The instructors showed me how the license application form for cosmetology had changed,” he explained. “I started to look into it and saw [the problem] was much broader than cosmetology.”

THE ‘DREAMER’

A seemingly minute change in the application for state license already has had a major effect on one Prosser student, who came to the United States from Mexico with her family when she was 2 years old. Her family epitomizes the blend of residency faced by many immigrant families: her parents are undocumented; her four siblings were born here and are U.S. citizens; and she is a DACA participant, or "Dreamer" as they have come to be known.

She completed the 1,500 hours required for the cosmetology program, passed the hands-on exam and written test, and when it was time to apply for her state license, she had her instructors guide her through the process.

“We thought everything was good,” she said. “We pulled up the application. I checked some box that said ‘other’ [for citizenship status] thinking the DACA documents would be okay. We sent it off. A few weeks later I got an email asking for proof. Through DACA I have a Social Security card, a driver’s license and a worker's permit. They said those documents were not accepted and were insufficient. The instructors were confused, especially because cosmetology licenses had been given out to DACA participants in years before.”

She was denied her license in December and has been in limbo ever since, not sure if she’ll be able to work in the field for which she trained and qualified.

If the legislation doesn’t make it to law and a professional license stays out of her grasp, the hairdresser-hopeful said she has “no idea” what her next job or career move would be.

“I don’t receive FAFSA or anything like that. It’s a lot harder, because it’s hard coming from my family that’s not financially stable. My dad is the only one that works. College is just not something that I could do. That’s why cosmetology and Prosser is such a good opportunity. That, and it’s something that I truly do enjoy,” she said.

The graduate says she doesn’t understand why it has to be difficult to get a professional license with DACA documents, when someone has already gone through the process for both those documents and their education.

“.... It shouldn’t be an obstacle just to work in what we studied for. As long as we are providing something, document-wise, we should be able to work in the field. That’s all we are asking for,” she said.

Campbell, principal of Prosser, said there’s a wide range of programs at the school and any student who is a DACA recipient could be affected by the crackdown on state licenses in their career, but cosmetology students are feeling the effect right away.

“If they don’t have that license, they can’t practice. For this, by law, you can’t do nails, can’t do anything like that without that license,” she said.

Campbell said there are about five students currently enrolled in the cosmetology program who are Dreamers.

“For me, it’s not a political issue. It’s about helping kids,” Campbell said. “Any time you have obstacles in front of a kid that has done everything they possibly can to lead up to that point, it’s always disheartening, because you want all of your kids to be successful. They’ve done what they need to do, in order to do what they want to do, in order to be successful.”

THE LAW

The Senate bill, as amended, would give a new option on the application alongside U.S. citizen and qualified alien: person otherwise authorized by federal government to reside and work in the United States.

Though it cleared the first stage, there are several to go before Dreamers across the state could obtain a professional license or renewal. The bill next goes to the full House for a vote. If approved, it'll be voted on by the Senate and, if passed, will be sent to Gov. Eric Holcomb for his signature.

The governor was quiet on the issue before the committee took its vote, but he issued a statement afterward, saying, “Ultimately, Congress needs to clarify federal immigration law regarding DACA. But, until they act, Indiana state law should allow DACA recipients to skill up and work here in Indiana. While Indiana’s Professional Licensing Agency acted appropriately and in line with what our current laws require, I am encouraged to see there is legislative intent to fix this.”

If the bill makes it into law, Indiana would join only 11 states that have loosened their licensing restrictions for undocumented immigrants, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures Immigration Policy Project. Its website shows California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming allow immigrants to obtain state licenses.

Federal law says states can’t give undocumented immigrants, including DACA recipients, professional licenses, said Ann Morse, NCSL program director. But states can also pass their own legislation, affirming that they want to anyway.

Only California allows all undocumented immigrants to receive any professional license they want (as long as they meet all other requirements). Other states, such as Florida and Illinois, are more particular.

All the states, of which NCSL is aware, that have allowed undocumented immigrants to receive professional licenses have done so in the past four years. Since DACA, the trend in state legislatures has been to extend benefits to undocumented immigrants, not to take them away, Morse said.

“…Both the federal action and the individual testimonies from the kids in the various state legislatures really had an impact,” she said.

If the Indiana bill becomes law, Clere says it doesn't fix the immigration situation nationwide, but it is "something that we can do to improve the situation somewhat in Indiana. For the individuals who are affected, this is very important.

Reporter Danielle Grady contributed to this story.