Georgia accused of discriminating against Puerto Ricans with bizarre driver-license quiz

Georgia officials echoed Jim Crow "literacy tests" with weird quiz on Puerto Rico's history and geography

IGOR DERYSH
JULY 8, 2019 6:02PM (UTC)

Human rights groups filed a federal lawsuit accusing Georgia of illegally discriminating against Puerto Ricans who apply for driver’s licenses by forcing applicants to take a bizarre quiz to prove they are from the island.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, alleges that the Georgia Department of Driver Services has violated the Civil Rights Act by engaging in "race-based stereotyping and implicit bias against Puerto Ricans." The suit claims that Georgia requires Puerto Ricans to undergo more stringent requirements than other citizens.

According to the lawsuit, Georgia's Department of Driver Services seizes identity documents from Puerto Rican applicants, does not process their applications in a timely manner, and forces them to take extra driver tests and answer “trick” questions about Puerto Rico to prove they are really from the island. (It is presumably meant to weed out Latin American immigrants falsely claiming to be Puerto Rican.)

As a result of the practice, the lawsuit continues, residents from Puerto Rico are prevented from traveling to work or school or to receive medical treatment or attend places of worship. The suit also notes that Puerto Ricans face a $500 fine and a year in prison if they drive without a license.

The suit was brought by LatinoJustice and the Southern Center for Human Rights on behalf of Kenneth Cabán, a Puerto Rican man who moved to Georgia, after the Department of Driver’s Services failed to return his identity documents for more than 600 days after he applied for a license, according to the suit.

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