Tennessee DACA Driver's License Renewals Denied

Tennessee has been turning DACA recipients away at license renewal since Oct. 1, saying deferred action is not an authorized stay. Federal ID rules and an earlier fight in Arizona show how that position is likely to be tested.

Tennessee DACA driver’s license renewals are being refused at state driver services centers, according to recipients and advocates who say the denials began Oct. 1. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security says deferred action does not give DACA recipients lawful immigration status and that a work permit alone does not prove the “authorized stay” state law requires for a temporary license, NewsChannel 5 in Nashville reported. People who have driven legally in Tennessee for years can lose that ability when their current card expires, even though nothing about their federal status has changed.

The issue returned to the news on Oct. 26, when the Nashville Banner published a report headlined “New TN law blocks DACA recipients driver’s license renewals.” NewsChannel 5 and WKRN first reported the denials in early October, after the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition began hearing from recipients turned away at the counter. NewsChannel 5 described the number affected as hundreds; the state has released no count. NewsChannel 5 also noted that recipients have been renewing Tennessee licenses since DACA began in 2012.

Where the state stands

The department points to Tennessee Code section 55-50-331(g), which governs temporary licenses for noncitizens and requires proof of a federally authorized stay for a specific purpose and period. A 2025 law, Senate Bill 6002, created marked temporary licenses for legally present noncitizens starting Jan. 1, 2026, and barred their use as voter identification, KATV reported. Sen. Bo Watson said at the time that the change “ensures the security and integrity of our elections.” Advocates told NewsChannel 5 they believe legislation from a 2025 special session is behind the denials, which the station presented as their view rather than an established cause.

The department’s position has a textual footing. DACA is a grant of deferred action, a form of prosecutorial discretion, not an immigration status. The open question is whether “authorized stay” under Tennessee law should be read the same way. Two details complicate the state’s reading:

Its own checklist. The department’s published document list for temporary licenses, as posted on Oct. 26, still names the Employment Authorization Card (Form I-766) among accepted proofs of legal presence and says nothing about deferred action. A coalition organizer told NewsChannel 5 that counter staff “just see a work authorization” and are unsure how to process the different documents.
Federal ID rules. Under the REAL ID regulations, both “lawful status” and “temporary lawful status” include a person who “has approved deferred action status.” A temporary REAL ID card may not outlast the holder’s authorized stay, or one year where no end date is shown. Those rules govern IDs that federal agencies accept; they do not by themselves force a state to license anyone, which is why a legal challenge would more likely rest on preemption.

The Arizona roadmap

Arizona refused licenses to DACA recipients in 2012, and in 2016 the Ninth Circuit held the policy preempted because Arizona had applied its own definition of authorized presence instead of the federal one. The Supreme Court declined to review the case in March 2018, leaving a permanent injunction that bars Arizona from refusing the licenses. Tennessee sits in the Sixth Circuit, where that ruling does not bind, but it is the most direct template any challenge would follow. No lawsuit had been reported in the coverage reviewed for this article.

The stakes extend beyond DACA. Advocates told NewsChannel 5 that refugees, asylees, U visa holders and Temporary Protected Status holders have also faced questions at renewal, including Ukrainians whose TPS documents showed an Oct. 19 end date even though DHS says their protection continues. Recipients caught in long federal DACA renewal waits could see a lapsed work permit and a refused license arrive together, on top of earlier federal cutoffs such as the end of FHA mortgages for DACA recipients and visa holders.

Nationally, 495,320 people held active DACA as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to USCIS data compiled by the Migration Policy Institute. Tennessee’s treatment of them now joins a run of state measures testing immigration status at the point of service, including status checks for HIV care that a Nashville judge has paused.

The next signals to watch are written guidance from the department explaining which documents now qualify, any correction to the checklist it publishes, and whether a recipient or advocacy group files suit. Until then, the outcome at a Tennessee counter is likely to turn on which documents an examiner accepts.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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