NY Assembly Gives Illegal Immigrants ‘Green Light’ for Driver’s License

Miguel Moreno
By Miguel Moreno
June 14, 2019New York
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The Green Light NY bill was passed in New York’s Democrat-led Assembly on June 12 and is now on its way to the Senate.

Democrats have sponsored the bill that would allow illegal aliens to get a driver’s license, saying it is an effort to make the streets of New York “safer” and offer support to immigrant communities.

As it stands, illegal aliens cannot apply for a driver’s license in the state. However, if the bill is passed, not only will they be eligible to drive, but the bill will also limit the information that federal immigration authorities can obtain about drivers from the DMV without a judicial warrant.

After the bill was passed, Republican Senator Daphne Jordan said she believes that the bill caters to criminals.

“It’s a fitting name since the Democrats’ bill gives a green light to fraud, danger, and ultimately illegal immigrants voting,” Jordan said.

A study conducted by the Siena College Research Institute in June 2019 found that 53 percent of New Yorkers surveyed oppose giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, while 41 percent supported such a move.

Pathway to Vote?

While it remains a federal crime for an illegal immigrant to vote in New York, voting only requires citizens to provide either a social security number or a driver’s license number—proof of citizenship is not required.

This loophole was debated by the Assembly on the day the bill was passed. Democratic Assemblyman Marcos Crespo said that he trusted that no illegal immigrant would vote, but another assemblyman explained that this was not a realistic assumption.

“Unfortunately, I actually have a number of examples from the Suffolk County Board of Elections of cases where individuals, with DMV numbers, that are not citizens, have actually registered to vote with that number, checked the box that they were a citizen—or the box was checked on the application that they signed—and they actually did vote,” said Republican Assemblyman Douglas Smith of Suffolk County.

Other issues debated included the DMV’s ability to confirm whether documents used to provide proof of foreign nationality are real.

The bill will now go to the Democrat-led Senate.

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