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Immigrants legally in state eligible for licenses

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Michigan Secretary of State officials say they will continue to issue driver's licenses to immigrants provided the federal government can prove they are legally in the U.S. 

Department spokeswoman GisgieGendreau clarified the policy in response to last week's executive action by President Barack Obama. It extends deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, as long as those parents have been in the country for five years.

Michigan originally resisted allowing immigrants to have driver's licenses when Obama granted legal status to young people in 2012, but Secretary of State Ruth Johnson reconsidered after the White House clarified their legal status. Civil liberties and immigrants' rights groups also sued.

States are exploring how to apply or interpret Obama's actions, which many Republicans nationwide have vowed to fight.