Thread: Spitzer Poised To Ease Access To Licenses (NY)

Spitzer Poised To Ease Access To Licenses
By JACOB GERSHMAN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 19, 2007

ALBANY — The national security debate over giving illegal immigrants driver's licenses is heating up in New York, as Governor Spitzer considers throwing out a Pataki-era policy requiring applicants to submit valid Social Security numbers.

During last year's gubernatorial campaign, Mr. Spitzer said he would permit illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, arguing that banning them from driving worsened the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without improving security. Mr. Spitzer's position came under fire from his Republican opponent, John Faso, but the governor has said little about the issue since.

Now, one New York group, the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, says the governor is poised to repeal Governor Pataki's order and is urging the governor to reconsider changing a policy that it says is helping to thwart terrorist attacks.

"The 9/11 Commission pointed out that the 19 terrorists had at least 35 licenses," a board member of the coalition who lost his 23-year-old son in the World Trade Center attack, Peter Gadiel, said. "These licenses were the keys that enabled them to rent cars and open bank accounts, get credits cards, and buy flight lessons. It gave them everything they needed to plan, rehearse, and carry out their attacks."

Mr. Gadiel, a Republican who has also advocated for stricter border laws, said it was "insane" that the governor is considering extending licenses to illegal immigrants.

The group's protest has prompted at least one state lawmaker, a Republican senator of Brooklyn, to vow to introduce legislation that would undo any changes made by Mr. Spitzer to the existing license application policy, raising the possibility of a broader legislative debate. "I hate to be the next guy who didn't sign onto the legislation," the lawmaker, Martin Golden, said, "and, God forbid, terrorists strike again and there are 30,000 people dead. I'm not trying to be alarmist. I'm trying to be realistic." In October, the Spitzer campaign came out firmly in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses. "The facts show that restricting immigrants' access to drivers' licenses does nothing to improve security," a spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer, Christine Anderson, told the Associated Press. "All it does is drive immigrants into the shadows, creating a class of people with no public records."

As the issue gains traction in Albany, Mr. Spitzer, who has moved other contentious issues such gay marriage off of the front burner, is showing signs of rethinking his position. "This is a complex issue, which we are reviewing carefully," Ms. Anderson, told the Albany Times Union yesterday. "Before moving forward with any proposal, we would do an exhaustive review all security-related maters."

Immigration rights groups and other critics of New York's Social Security requirement argue that Mr. Pataki's policy unfairly punishes law-abiding immigrants, making it difficult for them from to get to work, go to the doctor, or buy groceries.

Opponents of the Real ID Act and Social Security verification are spread across the political spectrum — from immigration legal defense organizations to libertarians to business groups and unions.

The direction that New York takes could have a national influence on the security debate over license laws.

Since the September 11 attacks, state governments have expanded driver's license identification requirements and many have begun preparing for the implementation of the Real ID Act of 2005, which requires that states abide by national standards for driver's licenses by 2008. States are waiting for the federal government to propose license standards.

New York is one of 36 states to verify the Social Security numbers of driver's license applicants, according to the coalition.

In 2002, Mr. Pataki issued an executive order that required driver's license applicants to submit Social Security numbers proving they were legal residents or provide proof that they were not eligible for a Social Security number. In 2004, to comply with an executive order issued by Mr. Pataki, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles began sending out warning letters to New Yorkers with licenses whose Social Security number did not match federal data. About 58% of the 600,000 individuals who received the letter verified their Social Security numbers. As of last summer, the DMV had suspended 1,700 noncommercial licenses and 6,000 commercial licenses.

Mr. Pataki's policy was challenged in court and immigrant rights groups won an early victory when a Manhattan Supreme Court justice ordered the suspensions to be halted. On July 6, 2006, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court vacated the injunction and upheld the policy.

What is it about these law enforcement types - once they gain political office, they go all weak in the head! This is idiotic and a huge backward step.

The only explanaitions I've heard that make any sense is that a) they're looking for future votes, and/or b) the businesses are putting pressure on them.

Regardless, did he completely forget about 9/11?

Immigrant advocates renew push for driver's licenses

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs ... /701270345

By LEAH RAE
THE JOURNAL NEWS

Pro-immigrant groups are reminding Gov. Eliot Spitzer of comments from the campaign trail and pushing him to let illegal immigrants get New York driver's licenses.

Gov. George Pataki's administration tightened the rules on immigrants applying for licenses, causing hundreds of thousands to face losing their licenses or the ability to renew. The crackdown prompted a lawsuit and a raging debate over the link between driver's licenses and national security.

"This is an issue that has only grown in urgency with time," said Amy Sugimori, director of the New York City community organization La Fuente. Denied licenses, more immigrants will drive without insurance, she said, and police will lose a potential means to track their identity. Sugimori is part of a coalition holding a forum about the issue Feb. 3 in Manhattan. Spitzer and David Swartz, acting commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, are invited.

"We agree they do need to get secure identification documents from individuals, but we think they don't have to check immigration status in order to do that," she said. Some states allow foreign IDs as part of the application process.

Opponents disagree, and are lobbying to keep driver's licenses away from people they regard as potential terrorists. They are bolstered by the federal Real ID Act taking effect next year, which orders states to deny driver's licenses to those who cannot prove legal immigration status.

"To think that we would put out the welcome mat to terrorists and illegal aliens five years after 9/11 is in my opinion, unconscionable," said Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Carmel.

Under Pataki's administration, the DMV began requiring proof that immigrants have authorization to be in the United States, with at least six months left on their visas. Licenses were stamped with visa expiration dates along with the license expiration date. The department also ran a check of license-holders' Social Security numbers and found 600,000 discrepancies with a federal database. An untold number were undocumented immigrants with valid numbers.

"Requiring the Social Security numbers for a driver's license is one simple step that creates a more secure environment," Ball said. "And that single step may not save New York City, it may not save us from a terrorist attack, but at the same time allowing undocumented folks without Social Security numbers to have driver's licenses in New York state - it goes against our state security and it goes against common sense."

Sugimori calls such arguments misdirected, citing the fact that the Sept. 11 terrorists were granted U.S. visas. "There's really no correlation between undocumented immigration status and terrorism," she said.

Spitzer's campaign sided with that view.

"The facts show that restricting immigrants' access to drivers' licenses does nothing to improve security," a Spitzer spokeswoman told The Associated Press in October. "All it does is drive immigrants into the shadows, creating a class of people with no public records." A call to the governor's office yesterday was not returned.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund claimed in a lawsuit that the DMV went beyond its authority and improperly denied licenses to both legal and undocumented immigrants. After winning an injunction, the group lost in appellate court and is challenging that decision.

Nine states do not require lawful U.S. presence to get a license, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Under the Real ID Act, states must require proof of legal status, or the licenses will not be accepted as identification for federal purposes.

To the Rev. James Healy of St. Vito's Church in Mamaroneck, the issue parallels the congressional debate over whether to allow undocumented immigrants to legalize their status.

"They all want to be legal," he said. "They love this country. They are grateful to this country for giving them the opportunity to work and to support their family."

The hearing organized by the New York Coalition for Immigrants Rights' to Drivers' Licenses is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb.3 at SEIU Local 32BJ, 101 Avenue of the Americas, in Manhattan.

This is no surprise...........

This is SPITZER.......he caters to the ILLEGALS & WELFARE crowd.
He caters to the GIVE ME FREE STUFF - cradle to grave groups.

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