FLIP-FLOPPER HILL TAKES HEAT FROM 'ALIEN'ATED LEFT
By KENNETH LOVETT in Albany and FRANKIE EDOZIEN in NY


November 16, 2007 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton came under fire yesterday from immigration supporters for her flip-flop on allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses.
On Wednesday Clinton stunned advocates by announcing that, as president, she would not support giving licenses to illegals, after indicating recently that she favored the move.

"She's trying not to bring heat onto herself," said a "very disappointed" state Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx).

City Councilman Kendall Stewart (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the council Immigration Committee, said "I'm not happy with that" when asked about Clinton's latest stance.

"I thought she was happy with the first proposal which Spitzer had - which is a driver's license does not have anything to do with immigration, doesn't have anything to do with terrorists," Stewart said.


After fumbling with the issue during a Democratic presidential debate two weeks ago, Clinton's aides had said she supported giving licenses to illegal immigrants but wouldn't comment on the specifics of Gov. Spitzer's now-withdrawn plan.

She had also said it should be a state-by-state issue.

But hours after Spitzer on Wednesday withdrew his plan, and with a recent Rasmussen Reports poll showing 77 percent of Americans opposed giving illegal immigrants driver's licenses, Clinton issued a definitive statement saying that "as president, I will not support driver's licenses for undocumented people."

"She has to explain why it took two weeks to find an answer to a simple yes-or-no question," said Diaz, who has yet made a presidential endorsement.

"It could influence how a lot of people vote."

Other state and city officials, as well as immigrant groups, also refrained from criticizing Clinton, but some did rip the Democratic Party for "walking away from immigrants."

"Basically, they've thrown the immigrants under the bus," said Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan).

"If the Democratic Party had acted like this when we were fighting segregation, we'd still have African-Americans being forced to ride in the back of the bus."

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