Senator Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson) today announced the New York State Senate has passed legislation that would stop Governor Spitzer’s plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens by requiring a social security number or proof of authorized presence in the United States to obtain a New York State driver’s license or non-driver identification card.
The legislation (S.6484) would require applicants for a driver’s license or non-driver identification card to submit a social security number. When a social security number cannot be provided, the applicant must demonstrate he or she is ineligible to get a number and provide satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.
The legislation reverses Governor Spitzer’s policy that grants illegal aliens driver’s licenses and enacts safeguards to help eliminate the fraudulent issuances of driver’s licenses throughout the state.
The Senate held a public hearing on the legislation last week. Experts on national security, immigration, secure drivers’ licenses and ID cards, and representatives of the families of 9/11 victims spoke out against the Governor’s plan, calling it a threat to security.
Senator Larkin stated, "I believe we should listen to the more than 70 percent of New Yorkers who oppose this radical plan by the Governor, as well as to the families of the 3,000 murdered on September 11th who, as a united group, have publicly called all states to join the overwhelming majority of the states that have enacted bills to ban the issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and other lawbreakers."
The bill now goes to the Assembly.
