Poll: 58 percent oppose Spitzer's license plan
BY JAMES T. MADORE | james.madore@newsday.com
October 5, 2007

ALBANY - Debate over Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to offer driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants intensified yesterday with the release of a poll showing that 58 percent of voters oppose the initiative, and more groups taking sides.

Only 35 percent of the 700 surveyed by Zogby International said they backed the new license policy with the strongest support coming from people under age 30 and Democrats. Opposition was centered in upstate and among Republicans.

Later, county clerks met here to debate the license change, which would allow applicants to substitute a valid foreign passport and other documents for the required Social Security card. In upstate, county clerks issue driver's licenses for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The clerks voted, 29-4, to oppose Spitzer's plan.

Long Island's county clerks - Maureen O'Connell of Nassau and Judith Pascale of Suffolk, both Republicans - did not vote because neither issues driver's licenses.

But O'Connell, who ran unsuccessfully in February for an open Senate seat against Democrat Craig Johnson, expressed concern that the new policy would undermine license validity. She relies on licenses to prove identity for notarizing documents. "This will make the driver's license less reliable," she said.

Spitzer, a Democrat, noted the clerks' vote was along party lines with only one Democrat opposing him. He said the move "makes our state less secure and our roads less safe."

Spitzer emphasized that a special "document verification unit" was being created within DMV to scrutinize the records submitted by immigrants, and that the screening process would be the nation's most rigorous.

He also gained another powerful ally when the Catholic bishops expressed cautious approval. Given the federal government's inaction on immigration reform and the economic benefits derived from the undocumented, the bishops said "Governor Spitzer's action was appropriate," though they acknowledged the "legitimate security issues" raised by opponents.

The Conservative Party today begins airing a commercial criticizing the license policy. It states in part, "Along the Mexican border, we lock up illegal immigrants. In New York, Governor Spitzer wants to give them driver's licenses. Tell Spitzer he's wrong."
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