Chairman Ball: “No to Proposed Licenses for Illegal Aliens and Terrorists:” Calls Proposal “Terrorist Empowerment Act”

Senator Greg Ball (R, C, 40th District-Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess) Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, issued a statement today on the security risks that are associated with a new Senate bill, S4179, which Ball has deemed “a national security nightmare that should formally be renamed the ‘Terrorist Empowerment Act’.”

The legislation, if enacted, would allow illegal aliens to be issued New York State Identification Cards. The extreme and dangerous proposal which has been introduced in the Senate, is New York’s response to the failed “Dream Act” which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, but failed to pass in the Senate. The Bill would essentially require that DMV employees become experts at verifying every national identity card or voter card in the world (there are 194 countries, including Taiwan).

“This is an assault on our security as the world’s greatest terrorist target,” said Senator Ball. “New York State was attacked nine years ago and this extension of driver’s license privileges to 1 million illegal aliens is a national security nightmare. This Bill is aiding and abetting future terrorists by providing currently illegal identity documents in the form of driver’s licenses to those who may wish to harm us. This is not about immigration; this is about security. Terrorists look for weaknesses in our system and holes in our security to exploit. This bill would provide that loophole for those who wish to harm us.”

A recent report issued by the Congressional General Accounting Office confirmed that it has become increasingly easy for illegal aliens to obtain driver licenses using false documents. This has heightened national security risks and further substantiates the compelling Federal Trade Commission’s report which estimated 3.3 million people were victims of full-blown identity theft.

Ball explained, “The 19 terrorists who attacked our nation on September 11, 2001, used some 364 false aliases and in order to create those false identities made use of multiple driver’s licenses in addition to other documents. While the New York State driver’s license may well incorporate features to make it far more difficult to alter or counterfeit, the greatest area of vulnerability is to determine what name should be imprinted on that card in the first place. Additionally, it is outrageous to provide such a critically important form of identification to illegal aliens who have no right to be physically present in our country in the first place and whose presence within the borders of this great nation constitutes a violation of law. Doing so would be nothing less than devastating to our national and state security.”

Bill S4179 can be found on http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S4179-2011