Immigration

FPI has the data on the issues that matter to New Yorkers. In February 2019, FPI’s report “Driving Together: Benefits of Allowing All New Yorkers to Apply for Licenses” looked at the effects of allowing all state residents, including undocumented immigrants, to apply for a driver’s license. Until 2003, New York State had allowed residents to apply for driver’s licenses without regard to their immigration status and 12 other states—plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico – allowed all residents who passed a driver’s test and [...]

May 5, 2019. This article details the history of this issue and notes that licenses were obtainable in the state prior to a 2001 order stopping the practice prior to Sept. 11 terror attacks. The Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, earlier this year estimated that 265,000 undocumented immigrants in New York would obtain driver's licenses if the law is changed. It said 64,000 of those are located north of New York City, including 2,500 from the Buffalo area. It said the state and [...]

April 27, 2019. This is an opinion piece written by Terry Diggory, co-coordinator of the Saratoga Immigration Coalition and Julina Guo, staff attorney in the Immigration Law Clinic at The Justice Center at Albany Law School, which lays out the case for allowing all residents to apply for driver's licenses regardless of immigration status. The Fiscal Policy Institute has estimated that Green Light licensing could generate $57 million in combined annual revenue to New York State and county governments, and $26 million in one-time revenue. The [...]

April 23, 2019. This article covers a forum held on April 23 at Hofstra University where immigrant rights advocates discussed the impacts of allowing all residents, regardless of immigration status, to apply for driver's licenses. Known as Green Light New York, the speakers outlined the measure as both a moral imperative and smart economic policy. Jonas Shaende, chief economist for the Institute, said the measure would generate $57 million in annual revenue for the state, while local governments on Long Island would see $2.6 million [...]

April 18, 2019. This article reports that Saratoga county supervisors on Tuesday approved a resolution opposing state legislation that could allow undocumented immigrants to receive driver's licenses. "The board has concerns with the proposed state legislation that would weaken identification requirements for individuals applying for a New York State ID card or driver's license," said Board of Supervisors' Chairman Kevin Tollisen, R-Halfmoon. "The board supports current state law that gives the privilege of a driver's license to those who are here legally as defined by [...]

April 17, 2019. This Letter to the Editor points out the benefits of allowing all residents to apply for a driver's license and clarifies why this needed: "A driver's license does not confer immigration status or any other benefit on the immigrant. It simply allows the immigrant to operate a vehicle, increasing revenue for the state and improving safety for all on the road. To withhold driving privileges from immigrants is to essentially deprive them of the ability to obtain food, employment, medical assistance, and [...]

April 11, 2019. This article personalizes the issues facing immigrants without documentation by detailing the problems facing a farm worker in Upstate New York where public transportation and walk-ability makes car transportation a necessity. "Necessity forces us to take a risk," Jiménez said in Spanish as he drove home recently. "We have to work, we have to buy food. Sometimes we get sick and workers like me can't drive to a hospital, can't buy medicine. But I feel I need to take the risk so [...]

April 8, 2019. This article highlights the need for licenses and that "immigrants and their advocates have already gotten access to such licenses in a dozen states including California, Colorado and Illinois, some of them accepting state tax returns as identification. They are now targeting roughly a half-dozen states where they see a friendlier political landscape this year. That includes Wisconsin and New Jersey, where Democratic governors succeeded Republicans, and New York, where Democrats now are in total control of the Legislature." The article points [...]

April 8, 2019. This article reports that Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican-American member of Congress and himself a former undocumented immigrant, wrote Gov. Cuomo, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie a letter expressing his support to allow the state to issue driver’s licenses to people regardless of their immigration status — including those who are undocumented.. “According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, the influx of one-time driver’s license and vehicle registration fees could bring the state as much as $24 [...]