Thread: N.Y. governor, mayor feud over driver's licenses for aliens

N.Y. governor, mayor feud over driver's licenses for aliens
By BEN DOBBIN

September 27, 2007

ROCHESTER, N.Y.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer tore into New York City's mayor for lambasting the state's new driver's license policy for illegal aliens, calling it "legally wrong, morally wrong" for critics to say it will weaken national security and make it tougher for New Yorkers to fly.

Spitzer has been besieged by officials at all levels recently over his plan to allow illegal immigrants with valid foreign passports to get driver's licenses. Many local county clerks are incensed over the policy. One has already pledged not to follow it.

"Many of us think the whole idea is crazy and ill-fated," said Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola. "I myself will not process any driver's license renewal or driver's license verification for someone who cannot prove legal status."

The Democratic governor's decision comes as the Department of Homeland Security is pushing all 50 states to tighten their identification standards. Merola said Spitzer's approach "is going just the opposite way" as the federal government.

DHS has been working with New York's neighbor Vermont, as well as Arizona, Washington and Michigan, to toughen driver's license standards in order to comply with new border security rules.

New York's policy starts in December but is already under fire from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a pro-immigration politician who said the change could lead to the state's licenses not being acceptable proof of identification for air travel.

Bloomberg said Wednesday that the city's lawyer "does believe that in fact this would make New York's state driver's licenses ineligible to be used to get on an airplane. People would need other form of identification, generally a passport, and that would be a very big problem."

"I'm really skeptical that we should be issuing driver's licenses willy-nilly," he added Thursday, "because it then leads to lots of other problems in terms of voter registration and other things. But it's the governor's call."

The governor struck back at Bloomberg during a visit to an elementary school in Rochester.

"He is wrong at every level _ dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong," he said.

Under the new state policy, immigrants _ regardless of their status _ will be permitted to provide a current, verifiable foreign passport in applying for a license. Similar policies have been adopted in Utah, New Mexico and other states.

New York officials say the policy shift is geared toward enhanced security, safer streets and a reduction in insurance premiums for all New York drivers by an anticipated $120 million a year.

Michael Balboni, New York's homeland security chief, said the new system actually improves security because it creates public records that police and others can use to ensure true identities.

Allowing illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses would cut directly against a major anti-terror goal of the Bush administration to beef up ID standards _ unless states were to issue one sort of license for U.S. citizens and another for illegal immigrants.

The debate over standards for New York driver's licenses comes amid a long-running dispute between the state and the federal government about new rules requiring passports or equivalent federal identification for all land and sea border crossings next year.

That requirement, which Congress passed as a security measure after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, worries those along the U.S.-Canada border where families frequently cross the border to shop, socialize, or play sports. Many complain the rule will be prohibitively expensive for families that have to pay $100 per passport.

Russ Knocke, a DHS spokesman, said the agency has been talking to New York officials about new federal ID standards due to be announced soon for state-issued drivers licenses.

"There is a known vulnerability in state-issued driver's licenses today and shame on us if we don't fix that vulnerability," Knocke said. "Anything that would complicate the enforcement of our immigration laws would be concerning, and anything that would frustrate efforts for more secure identification would be troubling."

Associated Press Writers Sara Kugler in New York and Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--licensespat0927sep27,0,4998277.story

Does Hillary need the votes???

The National Voter Registration Act is commonly referred to as the "Motor Voter" bill because it provides for new voter registration opportunities at all DMV offices when you apply for or renew your New York State Driver’s license or ID card.

A quote from NY State Board of Elections

http://www.elections.state.ny.us/portal ... ema=PORTAL

By VALERIE BAUMAN | Associated Press Writer
7:11 PM EDT, September 28, 2007



ALBANY, N.Y. - Republican Assembly leader James Tedisco said Osama bin Laden is likely popping champagne over Gov. Eliot Spitzer's new plan to allow illegal immigrants to get New York driver's licenses.

Tedisco, joined by other Republican Assemblymen, said Republicans would sue if Spitzer and the Department of Motor Vehicles don't rescind the proposal by Oct. 31. He said Spitzer violated a state law in his policy.

Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said the legal threat was baseless.

"New York law gives the DMV commissioner broad discretionary powers to determine what documents are required to prove a license applicant's identity," Anderson said.

New York's highest court has upheld the DMV commissioner's authority to administratively change those requirements, without new legislation, which permits him to change the DMV policy imposed during the Pataki era, she said.

Spitzer announced his plan last week and said it would bring "people out of the shadows" of American society when it goes into effect in December. Similar policies have been adopted in Utah, New Mexico and other states.

Republicans said Friday that giving licenses to illegal immigrants would threaten the state's security, allow for voter fraud and inconvenience the citizens of New York.

Tedisco plans to introduce legislation next month that would make it a requirement for anyone applying for a license to have a Social Security number or proof of eligibility. The measure would also make it a misdemeanor to falsely apply for U.S. citizenship or a Social Security
number.

Rest of the article:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ ... 7031.story