- By Dan Veaner
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| Rensselaer County Clerk Frank J. Merola is taking Governor Elliot Spitzer to court to strike down Spitzers policy on granting drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Merola says the policy violates State law, which requires a Social Security number to obtain a license. Merola and 20 other county clerks have said they will not follow the policy. Tompkins County Clerk Aurora R. Valenti has said she will issue the licenses. Merola says that granting licenses to illegal aliens would mean that a New York State driver's license will no longer be a valid official identification. "You can't cherry-pick the law," he says. | ||
"Bringing more New Yorkers into the licensing system establishes a documented record and, when necessary, can help law enforcement solve and prevent crimes, rather than deter such efforts," she said. "In addition, the New York State Department of Insurance estimates that the increase in licensed and insured drivers will reduce auto insurance premiums for other New Yorkers by $120 million per year. Those insured drivers are now picking up the tab for the unlicensed and uninsured."
(Left to right) Leonardo Vargas-Mendez, Barbara Lifton,
Pete Meyers, Cecilia Montaner-Vargas
Lifton stressed that the new policy is a practical approach to solving a problem brought on by the federal government's failure to come up with an immigration policy that makes sense. "New York is not in the lead here," Lifton noted. "Eight other states, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Hawaii, Oregon, and Utah have already implemented a similar policy."
{niftycolumn background=white,textcolor=darkblue,border=gold,font=Ariel}Good State Policy or Broken Federal Law?
 | Republicans and Democrats have staked out opposing positions on Elliot Spitzer's policy. Here is how two prominent Tompkins County politicians view the issue: |
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County Legislator (Lansing)
Mike Sigler
On the Letter of the Law...
Think about it... if you're in a state like Oklahoma and you don't like New York's law, you can say 'We don't want New Yorkers driving in our state, because we don't know if you're citizens or not.' That's why this is a federal issue and not a state issue. Pennsylvania could say no.
People say they would not do that because of the money aspect. They would lose too much revenue not letting New Yorkers drive in their state. I say well, you know, they could put other regulations on. They could say you need a U.S. birth certificate and a driver's license. Would that be OK with you? I don't think that's OK either. I think my driver's license should say I am a resident of New York State, I'm a U.S. citizen, or I have a legal right to be here.
On The Practical Approach...
Just because they get a license doesn't mean they're going to get insurance. That is a fallacy in the argument. A lot of people are driving on licenses that are legal that don't have insurance, and it's a problem. I don't understand that angle of the argument.
On The Humanitarian Approach...
I can understand how we want to help immigrants make it in America. The problem is these aren't just immigrants -- they're illegal immigrants. If you want to revise the immigration laws of the United States, then let's do that. But you don't do it in a back door way. You're putting the cart before the horse here.
If you want to say to Mexico that we're only allowing 50,000 now, but we're going to boost that to 1,000,000 people, and people coming across can get work visas and then they can get a driver's license, and they can get a social security number when they cross the boarder so they can pay into social security, fine. But to just give them a driver's license -- you're cheapening citizenship. And that's something Republicans are not going to go for.
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New York State Assemblywoman
Barbara Lifton
Barbara Lifton
On the Letter of the Law...
It's a matter of proportion. Entering the country illegally isn't a felony, it's a misdemeanor. It's a sad thing, and we've seen it over and over again. I'm certainly tired of the campaign of fear and smear that we see in our country. This is just one more incarnation of it. When I talk to people here in my district, I think they are very tired of it across parties -- Republicans, Democrats, Independents. What I'm doing here today is fighting back and saying, 'We really believe we're one country and one people.
People in my Assembly district know their history, and know that immigrants have always been an easy target. My Irish ancestors were attacked, and there were signs that said 'No Irish welcome here.' Thins kind of thing is good public policy.
On The Practical Approach...
From a personal perspective, I'm a mother of two, I'm a grandmother of two. My daughter lives here in Ithaca with my two precious little grandchildren, ages five and three. I certainly want them to be in a state that's safe. I believe this will actually make my grandchildren more safe here in the State of New York.
The Republican Senators are fighting for their lives. It's a manufactured issue. The Governor is right to say we need good public policy. This policy is going to be good for the safety of New Yorkers on the roads, in the driver's insurance system, and in terms of homeland security. The only possible rationale the Republicans have on this is to create fear and to engage in divisive politics.
On The Humanitarian Approach...
We must move beyond the politics of fear and support Governor Spitzer's plan to reinstate New York's policy to grant driver's licenses to all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status. This is a public safety issue. This common sense approach gives our hard-working residents the ability to safely travel to school and to their jobs.
The failure of the federal government to adopt a sensible immigration policy has forced states like New York into a corner. The Bush administration's abdication of its responsibilities -- on this and so many other issues like S-CHIP, is forcing states to enact a patchwork of stop-gap measures in order to get by.
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"I think this is needed on many different levels," said Vargas-Mendez. "Firstly, these workers are here. They are working our farms. They produce our goods that we consume in our markets and our houses. These are workers that provide services in our restaurants in our community. They also provide skilled work for some of our industries in New York State. These are workers that are providing millions of dollars of taxes, and workers that need to do what any family will do -- go to the store, go to the pharmacy, come to school -- and they need a form of transportation."
Sivilay Somchanhmavong
Myers said the policy addresses an important worker's issue. "So many workers rely on driving," he says. "Previous DMV policy drove way too many people underground. Spitzer's shift is going to make all of us safer."
Lifton kept her emphasis on the practical benefits of the new policy, saying that similar policies in eight other states have proven to lower insurance rates for already insured drivers, as well as reduce the number of uninsured accidents. "It should also be noted that undocumented immigrants will be subjected to a stringent process to get a license, and will have to provide six forms of identification, including a valid foreign passport. Further, statistics show that the state's thousands of unlicensed drivers are a public safety threat, causing five times as many deadly accidents than licensed drivers."
This is not the first time New York has offered driver's licenses to undocumented aliens. The State allowed them to obtain licenses before the Pataki administration. Some county clerks have come out against the policy, saying that they will not issue licenses or that they will turn applicants over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be deported. But Spitzer's administration states unequivocally that will be a violation of State law.
The policy has become a political hot potato with Democrats accusing Republicans of 9/11 fear mongering, and Republicans saying that it puts New York policy in violation of federal law. But while Lifton blames the largely Republican State Senate and the Bush administration of abdicating its responsibilities on social issues, she says that this policy is the right thing for New Yorkers. "It's time to tone down the rhetoric, and work together on the state and federal level to resolve this and so many critical issues ignored by this President," she said.
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