Depending on whom you ask, a new policy that will allow some illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses is either a wrongheaded campaign by Gov. Eliot Spitzer to reform immigration law, reducing safeguards against terrorists and rewarding those who violate the law; or a pragmatic way to make the roads safer and improve national security — while in the bargain giving a fair shake to immigrants who need to get behind the wheel of a car.
Those are the positions being taken by opposite sides in a burgeoning statewide debate about Spitzer’s administrative order issued last month which, in legal terms, does nothing more than reverse a policy initiated in 1995 by his predecessor, George Pataki, requiring a social security number for obtaining a New York State driver’s license. In 2002, a state regulation made it possible for those ineligible for a social security number to apply, but the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) then adopted a resolution requiring a formal letter of ineligibility from the federal Social Security Administration, effectively blocking illegal immigrants. It is this last policy that Spitzer says he is changing.
The controversy has hit home locally in a number of ways. New York State has 50 county clerks responsible for administering local DMV offices, and last week 13 of them, including one Democrat, vowed not to abide by the new policy. That could provoke a crisis in state government as the independently-elected county clerks argue points of law with the governor, each claiming to have the law on their side. Although not yet among the official insurgency, Ulster County Clerk Nina Postupack and Dutchess County Clerk Bradford Kendall, both Republicans, have weighed in that it creates a serious problem for them, and they don’t like it one bit.
Then on Monday night, Oct. 15, the Dutchess County Legislature officially opposed Spitzer’s policy in a resolution sent to Albany. The GOP-sponsored measure to petition the governor and state Commissioner of Motor Vehicles David Swarts to reconsider received bipartisan backing in a 22-2 vote, despite pressure from the other side applied by a dozen vocal advocates for immigrants’ rights who spoke at Monday’s meeting. Sandy Cuellar Oxford, chairwoman of the Black and Latino Democratic Committee of Sullivan County, warned legislators that the resolution would be “perceived as anti-Latino” and that Latino voters have memories “like elephants.”
Dutchess legislators also passed a measure requesting that their county clerk, Kendall, comply with existing state law requiring a social security number — in other words, that he should reject Spitzer’s policy change to expand eligibility. Kendall did not disagree with their sentiment, saying that complying with the governor’s policy would put him in the difficult position of violating a federal law against aiding and abetting illegal aliens in obtaining employment or staying in the U.S.
Sounding a similar theme across the river in Ulster County, Postupack, who ran unopposed last year after being named successor to Al Spada — under whose tenure the Ulster DMV was rocked by, ironically, a federal investigation into the issuance of false licenses to illegal immigrants that resulted in two convictions of department staff — said she opposes the governor on the matter, although she stopped short of saying she would refuse to implement the policy, at least for now. “By giving someone who is not here legally a license, I feel I may be violating the law and that is why I am opposing this policy at this time,” said Postupack, who also cites state motor vehicle law as requiring a social security number. “The law says we have to examine certain documents; we take our job very seriously here at the county clerk’s office and therefore we will not do something we feel breaks the law. I feel that the New York State license is the highest form of ID anyone can receive and so, I think we need to maintain the integrity of that document.” She said there are other ways to allow illegal immigrants to drive, including creating driver documents that are different from an official license, which she said, is a de facto badge of legal citizenship.
The heavily Democratic Ulster County Legislature hasn’t yet piped up on the issue, but then they last met on Oct. 10, just after the flap began about a week ago.
Circling the wagons
Gov. Spitzer likely never envisioned his order might provoke a state constitutional and budgetary crisis, that county clerks would mutiny or that a poll from the Siena Research Institute would show that fully 72 percent of New Yorkers are opposed to his policy. Forced to further explain his position, in a statement released Oct. 15 the governor argued that his policy would enhance driver safety, in that licensed drivers are statistically less likely to be involved in a fatal crash. The policy would, he said, reduce the state’s legendarily high insurance rates by removing unlicensed, uninsured drivers from the roads. He said it would aid national security by bringing illegal immigrants in from the shadows and onto a reliable database that can track them accurately, for law enforcement if need be.
Spitzer also said his order provides for enhanced training and modern equipment that will require a valid passport be presented by any applicant for a license who cannot provide a social security number, and said the state DMV will utilize high-tech scrutiny to ensure the passport is valid, thus enhancing security by providing reliable information on people who are already here illegally. No indication of visa status would be provided on the license, as has been in the past. There are an estimated 1 million undocumented aliens living in the state.
“This policy is not about letting more people into this country,” said Spitzer in his release. “Rather it is a practical approach to dealing with those who are already here because of the federal government’s failure to adequately police our borders. We cannot ignore the reality that when hundreds of thousands of people do not have a driver’s license, it puts everyone in danger, and we can’t ignore the reality that when hundreds of thousands of people live in the shadows it makes our country less safe and law enforcement’s job much harder.” His office did not return calls on Tuesday seeking comment.
Spitzer issued the policy change back in September; it will take effect in on Dec. 1, when applicants for a driver’s license or non-driver identification can opt to check a box indicating they are ineligible to obtain a social security number, presenting a foreign passport and/or other acceptable documents to prove identity instead. Eight other states — Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington —do not require drivers to prove legal status to obtain a license.
No, no, a thousand times no …
The policy’s many critics have focused on the fact that removing the requirement for a social security number would allow people who are in this country illegally to get a license. They say it would be detrimental to homeland security, that it is contrary to state law and that it will help terrorists blend in. “The governor is attempting to turn the DMV into an immigration agency … to document the undocumented,” said Dutchess’s Kendall, who added that if the policy were intended purely for road safety, non-driver IDs would not have been included.
Spitzer’s Oct. 15 statement came after a state Senate hearing held earlier that day in which Republican state senators lambasted the plan, and threatened to withhold the funding that would pay for the new equipment Spitzer has said will be used to scrutinize documents presented by those without a social security number. Failure to provide the funding could provoke another stalemate in the state’s annual budget debate, which generally stretches interminably into the summer.
The Senate’s position was encapsulated by state Sen. William Larkin, a Republican whose district encompasses Kingston and southeastern Ulster County all the way to Orange County. “The governor says this business [policy] is going to make us safer. What, are you crazy? Safer on the streets, safer from terrorism? I don’t think so. …People use a driver’s license to get on airplanes and get into flight schools.”
Larkin said his opinion is not simply posturing, but is a reflection of his constituents’ views. “Mail is coming in droves,” said Larkin, adding that it is literally 50-to-one against Spitzer’s policy. He said the Senate would seek to pass legislation that overrides the governor’s order — however, that route would require companion legislation in the state Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats. Meanwhile, Republicans in the Assembly have threatened court action against the idea.
Republican Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro of Red Hook told Dutchess County legislators on Monday that he objected to a policy directive taking the place of legislation. Such a change should only come from a “vote ... from both houses [of the state Legislature],” said Molinaro. “That’s not occurring today.”
On the fence, waiting
Even Democrats who might be expected to support a governor of their own party are treading carefully, clearly mindful of the Siena poll. “This is a governor’s policy, and I don’t sit in judgment every day on policies by the governor,” said state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, (D-Kingston, whose largely Ulster-based district dips into Dutchess County in increasingly Democratic Rhinebeck). “So I’m not going to come out and say I’m for it or against it.” But he said that the requirement for a social security number arose in 1995, when then-Gov. Pataki sought to locate deadbeat parents who were failing to pay required child support payments. Though well-intentioned, the bid failed, said Cahill, who allowed that it is the sitting governor’s prerogative to change the requirement, since as the state’s chief executive, his office is charged with administering regulations for the DMV.
Cahill also said that he thinks there is merit in Spitzer’s position, as licensing is a good start in getting documentation on who is here and holding them accountable. “The governor has made some very compelling arguments for what he did,” said Cahill. “But my friends on the other side of the aisle see this as an opportunity to turn this into an immigration debate. I take the challenge: I would be very happy to discuss and debate immigration issues in the appropriate forum.” He said there are numerous issues connected to illegal immigration and that, “if this matter brings that debate to the fore, so much the better.”
A sticky wicket
Back in Poughkeepsie, the Dutchess Legislature is not marching in partisan lockstep, despite the outcome of Monday’s vote. In the midst of election season, the emotional topic seemed unwelcome by some. Rick Keller-Coffey (D-Town of Poughkeepsie), one of the Democrats against Spitzer’s policy change, spoke of his preference for focusing on voter priorities such as taxes and open space, and he proposed a wording change in the resolution to suggest Albany leaders not only revoke the policy but also “make greater efforts in addressing the concerns of the whole public.”
Nine out of 12 Democrats on the Legislature supported the Republican-sponsored resolution urging Spitzer and Swarts to reconsider the policy. Fred Bunnell (D-Town of Poughkeepsie) and Joel Tyner (D-Rhinebeck/Clinton) cast the two votes in opposition. Fred Knapp (D-City of Poughkeepsie) was absent.
“This is racism, pure and simple,” said Tyner of his vote.
Noting he would not go that far, Bunnell said the resolution would create “deeper divisions in our own community.”
Among the majority of Dutchess Democrats against Spitzer’s policy, William McCabe (D-LaGrange/Union Vale/Wappinger) said a national campaign was needed to reform immigration policies, and Alison MacAvery (D-East Fishkill/Fishkill/City of Beacon) supported the sanctity of the driver’s license, which she called a “gateway document” that would “help an individual to prove eligibility to work in the U.S.”
The legislators’ resolution states that “17 out of 19 terrorists involved in the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks had valid driver’s licenses from other states, despite the fact that they were not here legally.”
While they supported the resolution, some Democrats took issue with “inflammatory references” to the terrorist attacks.
“I think Americans are tired of hearing that,” said Roger Higgins (D-Town of Poughkeepsie/Wappinger) during committee debate. Despite that reservation, he voted for the resolution.
The second Dutchess resolution — requesting Kendall to comply with the state law requiring a social security number — passed 13-10, without the same level of bipartisan backing as the measure to ask the governor to change his mind. Legislators Knapp and Patrick Nesbitt (R-Town of Poughkeepsie) were absent. Ronald Ray (D-City of Beacon) voted “yes.”
In opposing the second resolution, Democrats said they feared it would invite a costly lawsuit. Higgins said that asking Kendall to go against Spitzer’s policy put the Legislature “on pretty shaky ground” and could place taxpayers in a “position of having to fund a lawsuit.”
Some predicted it would ultimately take a court decision to settle the debate. Majority leader Noreen Reilly (R-Hyde Park) said that nothing less than the limits of the governor’s authority is at issue, and that resolution of the current impasse would likely require legal action.
A voice in the wilderness
Despite the clarion call of opposition to his policy change, the governor’s arguments have carried some weight with at least one ivory-tower expert — who happens to be a Republican, albeit with no political axe to grind. “I’m in favor of it,” said Dr. Gerald Benjamin, dean of the college of political science at SUNY New Paltz and a widely known authority on state and local government. Benjamin is a former chairman of the Ulster County Legislature and author of the recently adopted Ulster County Charter, which in 2009 will hand the reins of county government over from the part-time legislature to an elected county executive — the Ulster equivalent of Dutchess’s Bill Steinhaus. His position on the driver’s license issue, said Benjamin wryly, “will not make my Republican friends happy.”
Calling Spitzer’s policy “a pragmatic approach to solving a serious problem,” Benjamin said unlicensed illegal drivers raise insurance costs significantly and said requiring licenses could help lower such costs. He noted that some national security experts have expressed support for the governor’s initiative, not only because it brings greater documentation of those who are here, but because it raises a “red flag” over those immigrants who are questioned and have not applied for a license. And, he said, the policy does not confer any legal acceptance of illegal immigrants. “This is not a de facto recognition that the illegals are here legally, because states can’t do that,” said Benjamin. “The federal government will still have the right to pursue immigration cases against those with licenses, should they feel they have a case.”
Benjamin also detects political machinations at work. He notes that Spitzer has vowed to try and end Republican control of the state Senate and said that: “All these fights are a subset of the really big fight: survival of the Republican majority in the Senate.” And he said that the issue might prove effective if the governor is perceived as being arrogant.
“When you get a poll that shows 72 percent against and you proceed with a policy anyway, the arrogance arguments come forward,” said Benjamin.