LOS ANGELES — Throughout her life in California, Kassandra Merlos has relied on her Mexican passport as her sole form of identification.
When she has rented apartments, she has been reluctant to mention that she’s in the country without legal status and only has her passport for identification. When she has gone out to bars with friends, she has felt discriminated against when told she needs a California license or an ID to get in.
For nearly a decade, immigrants who are in the country illegally have been able to get a restricted California driver’s license, but Merlos doesn’t drive. The 26-year-old applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — better known as DACA — to get a work permit, but the program is no longer processing new applications.
