Upstate detour
Clerk sues gov over migrant driver licenses
ALBANY — An upstate county clerk filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Gov. Cuomo challenging New York’s new law allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses.
Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns is challenging the state’s so-called “Green Light Law,” arguing it conflicts with federal immigration law and is potentially unconstitutional.
The suit, filed in Buffalo Federal Court against Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James and Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Mark Schroeder, seeks an injunction to prevent the law from going into the effect prior to a final decision from the courts.
If Kearns, a former Democratic assemblyman elected to his current post as a Republican, carries out his duties laid out in the law he “faces the credible threat of criminal prosecution by federal authorities,” according to the suit.
Several county clerks vowed to ignore the new law immediately after Cuomo signed it last month. A group of clerks also sent a letter to President Trump asking him to instruct the Justice Department to review the measure.
Twelve states plus the District of Columbia already have similar laws on the books.
Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk) commended Kearns for taking on the governor over the controversial law, which he labeled “misguided and dangerous.”
“Democrats, especially those who represent the suburbs and upstate New York, ignored the overwhelming majority of their own constituents who strongly opposed this policy,” Flanagan said.
Cuomo, meanwhile, continued to raise the ire of advocates on Tuesday by repeating his worry that the federal government could use state-collected information for immigration enforcement.
The governor believes the Trump administration will get “more aggressive” in coming months as they pursue information on undocumented immigrants. Recent reports found that federal immigration officers have tried to use facial recognition technology while combing through motor vehicle records in other states looking for noncitizens.
“I want to see what happens between now and the day before the law goes into effect, but I think the federal government is going to aggressively continue,” Cuomo said. “I think this is now going to play into the president’s politics.”
James has said the law is not only constitutional, but has enough safeguards in place and is “well-crafted.”
Proponents of the law, slated to go into effect in December, knocked Kearns over his lawsuit — and targeted Cuomo over what they see as his tepid support.
“Instead of doing his job implementing the law, Mickey Kearns is wasting taxpayer dollars on a frivolous lawsuit that only serves to push a racist agenda that punishes immigrants,” said New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director Steve Choi.
Supporters say the statute will make more than 265,000 people eligible for licenses and improve road safety by making noncitizens who drive take road tests and get insurance and annual vehicle inspections.