Thread: ACTIVISTS SLAM SPITZER

ACTIVISTS SLAM SPITZER
MAD GOV. BACKING OFF LICENSE PLAN
TATIANA DELIGIANNAKIS and NEIL GRAVES

October 29, 2007 — Immigration advocates yesterday were feeling betrayed by Gov. Spitzer after it became clear he was backing off his original plan to provide driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Speakers yesterday gathered outside the governor’s East Side office and vilified him for leaning toward a new three-tier system announced Saturday that would leave the illegal immigrants at the bottom of three options.

Also, Saturday’s announcement said the entire program was being delayed indefinitely - perhaps for as long as a year — instead of kicking off in December as originally planned.

“He’s not honoring the promise he made about getting licenses in December,â€

Eliot Spitzer compares driver's license plan to MetroCards

BY JOE MAHONEY and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Monday, October 29th 2007, 4:00 AM

Amid the furor over his plan to give illegal immigrants driver's licenses, Gov. Spitzer Sunday tried to dampen the uproar, arguing the privilege of obtaining one was no higher than buying a MetroCard.

"I don't think it is a privilege any more than buying a MetroCard is a privilege," Spitzer said on New York 1 News of his three-tiered license plan. "When we walk down into the subway system to buy a MetroCard, no one says, 'Prove you are a citizen'; no one says, 'Where did you grow up?'"

But Republican rivals threatened yesterday to erect roadblocks to stop Spitzer's program, and even advocates for illegal immigrants called the governor a traitor for tailoring his proposal to appease federal officials.

Spitzer initially proposed one driver's license for all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status.

But after meeting in Washington Saturday with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, he revealed the new three-tiered plan.

Under the plan, the traditional license will be available to everyone, including illegal immigrants. The two other types will be available only to citizens and legal immigrants - and all require proof of identity.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco vowed to slap the governor with a lawsuit this week to upend the new policy. "He's breaking the law, and his technology for scrutinizing immigrant documents doesn't work," Tedisco (R-Schenectady) said.

Other opponents said the governor's plan is doomed because he's provoked so much animosity on all sides.

"There is more opposition now across the board than there was before he flipped," said John McArdle, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer).

Advocates for illegal immigrants protested outside the governor's home on Third Ave. yesterday, denouncing Spitzer for abandoning his original plan.

"This is a new segregation in New York," said City Councilman John Liu (D-Queens), who said illegal immigrants will be offered a license that's akin to a scarlet letter.

Miguel Ramirez of the Cuzcatlan Hispanic Center said the new three-tiered plan has produced only skepticism. "They obviously want to gather more information on our community so they can do more raids," Ramirez said.

Even support from the governor's allies like state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) was waffling.

"It's a very awkward place," Perkins said. "I'm disappointed because now you have the advocates for the immigrants saying they feel betrayed by what he has done."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10 ... nse_p.html