The Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) to investigate an employee’s reported refusal to authenticate a customer’s valid foreign driver’s license issued by the Palestinian Authority. This denial of service led to the customer being unable to acquire a Maryland driver’s license.
In a letter to the Beltsville branch of the MVA, CAIR wrote in part:
“On March 22, 2024, [customer] went to the Beltsville MVA to transfer her valid Palestinian driver’s license (See Attachment A) by undergoing a knowledge and driving test. She was reportedly asked to check-in and present her documents at the counter. The representative at the counter, Mr. Caesar, examined her driver’s license and informed her that her license ‘could not be verified.’
“The MVA’s website lists the occupied Palestinian territories as a state from which one can transfer their driver’s license (See attachment B). Despite her proof of identity, the Beltsville MVA failed to provide legitimate justification for why [customer’s] driver’s license could not be authenticated.
“Instead, [the customer] was reportedly informed that she would have to undergo the knowledge test and driving test and receive a driving school certification. This places an additional financial burden on [customer] on top of mandatory expenses she has already paid for transferring a foreign license, such as completing the Drug and Alcohol course.
“You may be aware that the USCIS recognized [customer’s] documentation as authentic before issuing her immigration papers. It is odd that the federal government has a framework to recognize the validity of Palestinian documentation, yet Maryland’s Motor Vehicle Administration has reportedly failed to do so. State agencies should be following the lead of federal agencies in upholding the designated policies and practices for validating foreign documents.”
“We are concerned that the MVA has potentially violated this customer’s rights to fair and equal treatment by arbitrarily enforcing discriminatory policies regarding Palestinian Authority-issued driver’s licenses,” said CAIR’s Maryland director Zainab Chaudry. “This ordeal has led to significant stress and delayed her ability to seek employment and settle in her new hometown.”
CAIR is calling on the MVA to promptly investigate and rectify this error, clarify its policies, issue an apology, provide training to its employees, and take steps to avoid this from happening again.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, zchaudry@cair.com, 410-971-6062; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com