At first blush, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer seemed to be defying the federal government once again on Wednesday night. 
 
 The Republican governor signed an executive order saying Arizona had no plans to give government benefits, including drivers licenses, to the tens of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants in that state who would be getting work permits and immunity from deportation under President Obama’s new immigration policy. 
 
 But while the order sounded harsh, at least one high-ranking Democrat in Arizona quickly threw cold water on it, saying Brewer’s declaration appears to be little more than hot air. 
 
 “It doesn’t seem to really do anything,” state Senate Democratic Leader David Schapira told TPM. “I see it as her once again trying to grandstand on the issue of immigration.” 
 
 The order came the same week that the Obama administration began rolling out a program to bring undocumented young people out of the shadows and give them the ability to work and do things like pay taxes. Known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program had youths lining up throughout the nation to find out how to apply for it. 
 
 Brewer, who signed Arizona’s harsh immigration law known as SB 1070 and who has butted heads with Obama on immigration multiple times, said her executive order was a direct response to the president’s program. But whether that response actually changes the way Arizona will deal with the program is another matter. 
 
 Schapira pointed out that Arizona already had a number of strict immigration laws in place, including one that barred illegal immigrants from getting drivers licenses or state issued identification cards. The law may have already been interpreted to bar any newly immune immigrants from getting those state IDs, Schapira said. That means Brewer’s order effectively carried no weight at all. 
 
 Even the governor admitted at a news conference late in the day that nothing really changed because of her order. “It actually is no different than what was already in place,” Brewer said. 
 
 She also struggled to describe her action on a conservative talk radio show in Phoenix, saying it was only meant to guide state workers on how to handle the situation. 
 
 “It was an order to clarify where Arizona stands on this position so there would be no confusion for the directors of my agencies,” the governor said in the phone interview with KFYI’s Mike Broomhead. 
 
 Later in the same conversation, she stumbled when describing what role the state would play under the president’s new program. “We will issue an employment authorization card to these people,” Brewer said, then paused as if listening to somebody in the background. “The feds will, yeah, the feds will.” 
 
 After the order was issued, Alessandra Soler, the Arizona director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the whole thing made it look as if Brewer didn’t really understand the law in the first place. 
 
 “This is yet another reason why Arizona has no business trying to regulate immigration matters,” Soler said in a written statement. 
 
 Yet she also added that the ACLU believes neither Brewer’s order nor the current Arizona laws will bar the newly documented young immigrants from getting state issued IDs. “This order conflicts with state and federal law because people who are granted deferred action will, in fact, have authorized presence in the United States and under Arizona law people who have authorized presence are eligible to apply for Arizona state identification,” Soler said. 
 
 Regardless, other immigration activists and people involved in politics told TPM it was too soon to know for sure whether Brewer’s order would change anything. They said immigration attorneys would be looking at the language in the coming days to figure out what, if anything, comes next. 
 
 Listen to Brewer’s appearance on KFYI in Phoenix. ||||| Bloomberg News 
 
 Young immigrants authorized to work in the U.S. under a new federal program won’t be able to get driver’s licenses in Arizona. 
 
 Republican Governor Jan Brewer issued an executive order saying state law bars benefits or state-issued identification for those in the country illegally -- including those who qualify for the deferred-enforcement program announced by President Barack Obama in June, which kicked off yesterday. She directed agencies to block access for an estimated 80,000 immigrants in Arizona who may qualify. 
 
 Brewer’s order came as thousands of young illegal immigrants lined up around the U.S. seeking information about work permits and a possible two-year deferment of deportation, including 11,000 who came to Navy Pier in Chicago to meet with volunteer lawyers, the Chicago Tribune reported. The program is open to those who were brought to the U.S. before age 16, have been in the country at least five years and who graduate from high school or serve in the military, among other criteria. 
 
 The policy may benefit as many as 1.7 million people age 30 and under, according to estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center. The report said that 950,000 people would be eligible immediately and another 770,000 people in the future as they meet the criteria set by the president. 
 
 Defend Arizona 
 
 Obama’s policy bypassed Congress, where legislation known as the Dream Act designed to give a path to legal status for younger illegal immigrants has been stalled. It also pushed the issue back into Obama’s campaign with presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who has opposed the measure. Romney has said he would “put in place my own long-term solution.” 
 
 In her executive order, Brewer said federal documents issued under the new program won’t prove lawful status and permitting state-issued identification or benefits to recipients would “have significant and lasting impacts on the Arizona budget.” 
 
 The governor’s spokesman, Matthew Benson, said Brewer is seeking to defend her state. 
 
 “The governor can’t undo what the president has done, but she can take a stand for state law,” Benson said. “By no definition are these individuals lawfully present or lawfully authorized to be in the United States. All they have received is a deferral from being prosecuted or deported.” 
 
 Into Court 
 
 The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona disagrees with the governor, said Executive Director Alessandra Soler. State law allows driver’s licenses for others authorized by the federal government to be in the U.S., including people here on political asylum, she said. 
 
 “The definitive action on this will be decided in a courtroom,” Senate Democratic Leader David Schapira said at a press briefing. 
 
 In other states, officials are evaluating whether young people admitted under the program qualify for driver’s licenses or identification. 
 
 Michigan will accept the federal documentation, said Fred Woodhams, spokesman for the secretary of state. California will treat those in the new program as “temporary legal residents” and issue licenses, according to the San Jose Mercury News. 
 
 Driver’s licenses aren’t the only issue. In Florida, students in the program will pay out-of-state tuition, Florida State University System spokeswoman Diane McCain said. Benson, Brewer’s spokesman, said Arizona law prohibits in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, including those in this program. 
 
 Waiting to Drive 
 
 At Arizona’s Capitol, a few dozen young immigrants and supporters today held signs such as “Brewer, why the hate?” 
 
 Carla Chavarria, a 19-year-old illegal immigrant from Scottsdale, remembers feeling left out in high school when friends started getting driver’s licenses. She was hoping to get one if she is admitted to the new program. 
 
 “They don’t let us have a victory,” said Chavarria, who runs an advertising and graphics design business and was brought to the country at age 7. She said that Brewer was “like a bully -- you got up from the playground and I am going to push you down again.” 
 
 The program’s inception has created a flurry of action in immigrant communities. 
 
 Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, director of outreach and program evaluation at the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, a Philadelphia-based organization, said immigrant groups have been holding information sessions for two months. 
 
 “There’s a lot of trepidation,” she said. People wonder, “How do I get this exactly right so I don’t lose my once in a lifetime chance?” 
 
 Answering Questions 
 
 In Florida, a two-hour phone bank answering questions yesterday received about 500 calls, said Natalia Jaramillo, spokeswoman for Miami-based Florida Immigration Coalition. 
 
 The Ohio chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association is setting up a free clinic in Cleveland on Aug. 18, said David Leopold, an immigration attorney. 
 
 “People are saying, ‘I can stand up and be somebody in this society now,’” Leopold said in a telephone interview. “It’s just wonderful to see such hope.” 
 
 Eduardo Resendez said he was 16 when he, his mother and younger sister left their home in Mexico City, crossed the Texas border and made their way to the Bronx in New York City, where his father was already living. Resendez, now 22, is on a path to get working papers, he said in a telephone interview today. 
 
 Already in the midst of getting a bachelor’s degree in music from the City University of New York, being allowed to work legally would mean fulfilling his dream of being a high- school music teacher. 
 
 “Before this, I knew I wouldn’t be able to teach in the U.S., so my plan was to go back to Mexico when I graduated,” Resendez said. “Now, that plan has changed. I’ll be able to stay with my family. That’s one of the greatest things that will happen.” 
 
 To contact the reporters on this story: Amanda J. Crawford in Phoenix at acrawford24@bloomberg.net; Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeffrey Taylor at jtaylor48@bloomberg.net
– As young illegal immigrants lined up to apply for President Obama's deferred-deportation program yesterday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer made it clear where she stands on the issue. Brewer yesterday issued an executive order stating that young immigrants granted work permits under the program would not be able to receive any public benefits, including driver's licenses or other state-issued ID, BusinessWeek reports. The governor, who has repeatedly clashed with the federal government over immigration, said the new program's documents do not prove lawful status in the US. Brewer said the order was a direct response to the president's move, although critics noted that it was merely restating existing law. "It doesn’t seem to really do anything," state Senate Democratic Leader David Schapira tells Talking Points Memo. "I see it as her once again trying to grandstand on the issue of immigration." Brewer herself admitted that the order "actually is no different than what was already in place." Asked what role the state would play in the new program, she said, "We will issue an employment authorization card to these people," then paused and said, "The feds will."