A new ‘drive’ to aid immigs
We have really decided to go ... full steam on driver’s licenses. Steven Choi, New York Immigration Coalition
BELIEVING the political climate is now in their favor, advocates are launching a major push to allow undocumented immigrants to get New York State driver’s licenses.
Members of more than 50 organizations met Tuesday with an umbrella group known as the New York Immigration Coalition to set their campaign in motion.
“We have really decided to go forward, and go forward full steam,” said Steven Choi, the coalition’s executive director. “We are hearing from our members, from Brentwood in Long Island all the way to Buffalo, that driver’s licenses are a major issue.”
Seven years ago, it was a potential reform that held promise but ended in failure. In that year, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer gave an executive order for the state Department of Motor Vehicles to grant licenses to those eligible to drive, regardless of immigration status. But then he backtracked.
Spitzer shelved the move after Hillary Clinton, then running for the White House, waffled in responding to a Democratic presidential debate question about the topic, leading conservatives to pounce.
“I think that was a time of antiimmigrant backlash,” said Choi. “We’ve had some time to debunk some of the myths about immigrants, and bolster the profile of how immigrants contribute to our state.”
Eleven states and the District of Columbia now have laws allowing undocumented immigrants to secure driver’s licenses.
Advocates say the issue is a matter of public safety, since many undocumented immigrants, especially those in areas lacking public transportation, end up driving without a license in order to get to work or shop. “A license would al- low them to be more entrepreneurial, rather than day laborers,” said Valeria Treves, executive director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment in Queens.
Critics say it rewards those who are here illegally and wouldn’t necessarily create safer drivers.
Mayor de Blasio came out in support of the issue during his campaign, but any change would have to happen on a state level. State Sen. José Peralta introduced a license bill last fall.
“The time is right,” Peralta, a Queens Democrat, said. “Maybe in 2007 it wasn’t. But it’s a growing trend.”