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Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration is under fire from civil and immigrant rights groups that say the agency revoked the licenses or identification cards of about 150 people without notice or due process.

The MVA did cancel the licenses, spokeswoman Caryn Coyle confirmed Thursday, adding that the matter is part of a federal investigation. For that reason, agency officials would not discuss it, she said.

The agency routinely cancels licenses when it "discovers or reviews anything that indicates a license has been issued in error or fraudulently," Coyle said MVA administrator John T. Kuo told her.

However, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Casa of Maryland, an immigrant rights group based in Silver Spring, also said Thursday that they have been told that the agency will revoke the cancellations, pending hearings for everyone who received a letter.

"For the time being, that is what we were hoping for," said Casa lawyer Sebastian Amar.

Coyle declined to comment on whether the agency had decided to step back from canceling the licenses and wait for hearings.

Amar and ACLU lawyer Ajmel Quereshi declined to say how they knew the MVA was stepping back from the action, but said they did not have official, written notice.

At least two individuals already have surrendered their licenses, said Quereshi, who is working with the ACLU's Immigrant Rights Project.

The majority of complaints that the ACLU received were from individuals who applied through the "out of country application process," Quereshi said in an e-mail response.

In a letter to Maryland's Transportation secretary, the ACLU, Casa of Maryland and the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said the revocations not only raise constitutional issues but threaten the livelihood of people who must drive.

Amar said Casa of Maryland does not have a reliable estimate yet as to how many have surrendered their licenses.

The notices, written in English only, were sent around June 1, the groups said.

The ACLU offered what it said was a copy of a notice. The message, bearing the MVA logo, directed the recipient to "immediately surrender the canceled License/ID to the Administration" and added that he or she "may go to any MVA branch office and present the required documents to apply for a new license or ID."

"The mere opportunity to reapply for a license is not sufficient to satisfy due process," the group told the transportation secretary in the letter, dated June 30.

Many of those whose licenses were revoked got them before June 1, when new rules required applicants to present proof of "lawful status," the letter notes.

The federal Real ID Act requires states to verify documents that applicants offer as proof that they are citizens of or legally living in the United States before the state issues a driver's license or ID card.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gillian M. Brigham said she could not confirm or deny whether the agency was involved in such an investigation because it is ICE's policy not to discuss such matters.

Baltimore FBI spokesman Richard J. Wolf said the agency does not comment on pending investigations, including whether the bureau is conducting them.

Deborah Trotter of the Internal Revenue Service's criminal division said she was not aware of an investigation.