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When a Mexican couple in Iowa got $1,000 in traffic tickets in one weekend, Chariton lawyer Curt Daniels gathered his law books and sued on their behalf. His claim: The couple were targeted because they are undocumented immigrants, and the state should allow them to apply for licenses to drive. "Their situation is just outrageous," he said. "There are thousands and thousands of them in Iowa alone." The lawsuit pits "Juan and Maria Sanchez" against the state of Iowa. The names are pseudonyms for a Des Moines couple in their early 30s who have three school-age children. They have jobs and have been in the country illegally for five years, said Daniels, who refused to identify them. The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case Jan. 13. The case has nudged Iowa toward a hot-button issue being argued in several states and Washington, D.C., where Congress has debated whether to bar states from granting licenses to undocumented immigrants. Eleven states already do it, according to the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, but approval was granted by lawmakers. The Iowa case, say legal authorities, would be the first in which authorities are forced by court order to let undocumented immigrants test for licenses. "Obviously, our position is that if the state wanted to pass a law it could, but it's not compelled to do it," said Mark Hunacek, an assistant Iowa attorney general who will argue the case. "It's being discussed, and that's a healthy thing. It's one thing to try to persuade a state to pass a law allowing the licenses, and it's another to say that the state is obligated to allow it." [more] and [more]