[I]n the spring of 2014, Abdel Rababah went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a driver’s privilege card.
A Jordanian national without legal status in the United States, Rababah was eligible for that form of identification. Driver’s privilege cards, adopted by the Vermont Legislature with migrant workers in mind, require proof of residency in Vermont but not proof someone is legally allowed to be in the United States.
Rababah’s application, however, triggered deportation proceedings against him.
Earlier this month, the Vermont Human Rights Commission reviewed Rababah’s case and, after an investigation, determined there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that the DMV discriminated against him.
Rababah is still living in the United States, according to a member of a local advocacy group. His deportation case is being handled in Boston. He could not be reached for comment.
“We are unable to talk about the case at this time because it’s in the middle of the human rights commission process. My client feels vindicated by the unanimous Human Rights Commission finding and hopes the Department of Motor Vehicles will institute systemic policy changes,” said Jay Diaz, who is with the ACLU of Vermont.
Rababah, who had been living in a small town in southern Vermont since 2006, first applied for a learner’s permit in February 2014. At the time of his application, he brought his Jordanian passport, birth certificate and Social Security card, marked “valid for work only with AHS authorization.” His application was processed, and he left with his permit.
When he returned to the Dummerston DMV office in April to get his privilege card, a different DMV employee, Donna Thompson, processed his application.
Thompson asked Rababah several questions about his forms of identification and whether he wanted a REAL ID card — a form of identification that has a higher standard of proof and requires legal presence. According to the investigation, she said she was trying to help him, to make sure he had the best form of ID.
According to the Human Rights Commission investigation, one of the critical points in the case involves Rababah’s answer to question 6 on the application, which asks if someone is a U.S. citizen and then asks if they have proof of legal residence.
Rababah is certain that he answered that he is not a citizen, and left the second box blank. However, the form has a black X marking that he does have proof of legal residence, according to documents from the Human Rights Commission. The investigation states that Thompson made the mark.
Although Rababah was issued his driver’s privilege card, the employee alerted the case to DMV investigators. In early May, the case was assigned to Det. Jeremy Desjardins.
Desjardins was supposed to investigate the documents Rababah submitted as part of the application — not determine Rababah’s legal status. But because of the X on question 6, he treated the case as a “false statements” case, according to the HRC investigation.
Desjardins called U.S. Border Patrol on May 19 to inquire about Rababah. During the course of the conversation, the agent he spoke with asked if Desjardins would be able to detain Rababah. After the conversation, Desjardins arranged a meeting two days later with Rababah.
When Rababah showed up for the DMV meeting, an agent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was there. He was detained, and the government initiated deportation proceedings.
According to the investigation, DMV does use Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a resource sometimes, but there are other investigative resources they can use as well.
Lt. McIntyre, Desjardins’ supervisor, told the Human Rights Commission that state officials shouldn’t call ICE to turn in an undocumented applicant. ICE, however, could be used as a tool for identifying applicants. ICE, she said, is an easy way to run a check because you “always get someone on the phone.”
Desjardins, the Human Rights Commission investigation states, “went right to Border Patrol, the one source that was bound to have profound ramifications for Mr. Rababah thereby triggering a series of events that were exactly the thing the [driver’s privilege card] law was designed to prevent.”
DMV Commissioner Robert Ide, reached Friday, said he couldn’t comment on the specific case. An assistant attorney general embedded with the DMV is handling the case, he said.
“We have a obligation to the federal government to report certain transactions,” Ide said. “And we will continue to do that because we will comply with federal law.”
Brendan O’Neil of Migrant Justice, an advocacy group, said he became aware of Rababah’s case in the spring of 2014.
Rababah “did everything right, he followed every step than anyone applying for a license should follow, and he was discriminated against based on who he was,” O’Neil said.
Migrant Justice pushed for the 2013 legislation that created driver’s privilege cards, and has monitored the rollout of the program across the state. The organization takes calls about the program on a hotline, and reports incidents to the DMV.
O’Neil said that this is not an isolated incident — he can think of more than a dozen other similar cases. But, he said, complaints called into the hotline have decreased as the organization has alerted the DMV to issues people are encountering.
In general, O’Neil said that the case draws attention to a type of bias that may not be well recognized in Vermont.
“There’s such a culture of fear and racism towards specifically Middle Eastern men, and you hear less of that in Vermont,” O’Neil said.