Cuomo made a concession: federal authorities will gain access to information about immigrants in New York

State Governor Andrew Cuomo agreed to grant federal immigration authorities access to the Department of Motor Vehicles database, but without his clients' social security numbers. In exchange for this, the government should return New York to the list of states whose residents can cross the border at airports under the expedited procedure. This publication writes State of politics.

On Friday, February 21, Cuomo offered to give federal immigration officials access to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database. In particular, a complete database of department clients, but without their social security numbers.

The move, Cuomo said, would allow federal immigration officials to obtain the requested information, but would prevent them from identifying illegal immigrants who applied for a state driver's license, since the only difference from other applicants is that they do not have social security numbers.

“I’m willing to give them anything but social security numbers,” Cuomo said in an interview with WAMC. - Social Security numbers are an indicator of whether a person has legal documents in the United States or not. I will never give them social security numbers in the DMV database. ”

In return, New Yorkers will gain access to trusted travel programs such as Nexus and FAST. These programs make it faster and easier to cross borders at airports and seaports.

On the subject: Revenge for illegal immigrants: Department of Homeland Security restricts New Yorkers' travel rights

This is a departure from Cuomo’s public position on this issue. Such a move would likely require changes to state law to allow illegal immigrants to apply for a driver’s license and to prevent federal immigration authorities from accessing DMV data (this was done to avoid the risk of deportation of illegal immigrants).

It is unclear whether the legislature, led by Democrats, will support this change.

However, the acting director of ICE in Troy, New York, has already called this policy dangerous and said that it needs to change.

"The state law says that we cannot give them (the federal authorities - Ed.) The DMV database," Cuomo said. "I said I would give the FBI any criminal information, I would give them global input information, I would give them anything but social security numbers."

It is worth noting that on February 5, the Department of Homeland Security announced temporary blocking New Yorkers' access to the Trusted Traveler Programs, including the Global Entry program, which allows travelers to bypass long lines at airports and border crossings, the newspaper writes. The New York Times.

This change, which took effect immediately, was introduced in response to the so-called New York Green Light Act. As part of this measure, which allows undocumented residents to obtain a driver’s license, immigration officials were prohibited from accessing the State Department of Motor Vehicles’s databases without a court order.

New York later filed a lawsuit over freezing travel programs.