Tennessee Court Blocks Driver’s License Restrictions for Immigrants with Work Permits

A Davidson County Chancery Court order on November 10, 2026, extended a temporary restraining order requiring Tennessee to issue temporary driver’s licenses to otherwise eligible noncitizens with valid work permits through December 8.

Background: Tennessee Driver’s License Renewal Questions Grow for DACA Recipients, Temporary Protected Status, Employment Authorization Document Holders

The order applies to applicants who meet the state’s other license requirements. It preserves access while the court considers a challenge to the state’s new documentation policy.

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security must continue issuing licenses to people with federally authorized presence who satisfy the remaining eligibility rules. The order is temporary.

Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) says license clerks cannot demand a “visa or I-94” from applicants covered by the order. The group says the department must accept federal documents, including employment authorization cards, as proof of federally authorized presence.

Tennessee must accept federal employment documents while the order remains in force

The challenged policy rejected federally issued employment authorization cards as proof that an applicant is authorized to work and be present in the United States. The injunction blocks the more stringent conditions and requires acceptance of a valid employment authorization document.

That changes which documents eligible applicants can use. TIRRC said the prior process accepted employment cards and other federal documents as proof of authorized presence. Applicants still have to satisfy the state’s other driver’s-license requirements.

The order extends relief first granted in the lawsuit. It pauses the new policy for covered applicants while the case proceeds, rather than resolving the dispute over the policy itself.

The group described the order as restoring access to driving. Peter McGraw, legal deputy director of the National Immigration Law Center, said: “Today's court order is a win for all Tennesseans as it restores access to driver's licenses and the ability to drive.”

DACA recipients and asylum seekers were among those shut out

The restriction affected Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and some other people with federal employment authorization. Immigrants without permanent legal status in Tennessee can qualify only for temporary licenses.

For many Dreamers and asylum seekers, the federal employment document has been their only accepted proof of immigration status. Advocates say hundreds of Tennessee residents had already been denied temporary licenses or renewals after the state began implementing the policy.

Thousands more risk losing the ability to drive legally to work, school, medical appointments and grocery stores if the restriction continues. The effect reaches beyond the license counter.

Spring Miller, TIRRC’s senior legal strategy director, said: “Regardless of where they were born, Tennesseans rely on the ability to drive in order to work, care for their families, and access the basic needs of life – groceries, medical appointments, their children’s education.”

The department says federal permits do not establish a required period of lawful status

The department’s position is that temporary-license applicants must document a specific period of lawful status, which employment authorization cards do not establish. The state tied the change to a law enacted nearly 20 years ago and revised in 2025.

Neither the original nor revised version of that law specifies which immigration documents qualify or which do not. The cards had been accepted as sufficient documentation for nearly two decades; for many immigrants, they served as the only proof accepted for more than a decade.

The plaintiffs allege officials changed the rules without following state law or providing public notice, and exceeded their authority. Their lawsuit asks the court to block the policy and return the department to its previous process.

Gov. Bill Lee said he was examining the rules after learning about the change. He questioned whether state and federal law could interact to create “unintended consequences.” The department has attributed the policy to a 2025 law it says took effect January 1.

Chancellor Russell Perkins cited irreparable harm and the public interest

The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and six immigrants with valid work authorization filed suit on October 30, 2026. The National Immigration Law Center and Bass Berry & Sims also sought relief in the case.

Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins issued the initial order on November 3, 2026. He cited the threat of irreparable harm and the public interest among the factors favoring temporary relief.

The first hearing date Perkins set was November 16. A hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court is now scheduled for December 7. The court has not made a final decision on the challenged policy.

Applicants can present a valid work permit before the next hearing

Eligible applicants can present a valid work permit as proof of federally authorized presence under the temporary order, TIRRC says. They must still meet the other requirements for a temporary driver’s license.

The December 7 hearing comes one day before the current extension ends. The hearing will take place in Davidson County Chancery Court.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.