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Trump's new border czar wants to change New York's Green Light Law

The border crossing between the United States of America and Canada, between St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, Canada, and Champlain, New York, U.S.A. 2022.
Ted Shaffrey
/
AP
The border crossing between the United States of America and Canada, between St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, Canada, and Champlain, New York, U.S.A. 2022.

New York's ‘Green Light Law', passed in 2019, that allows people in New York to get a license regardless of their legal status in the United States.

It also bars U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, from accessing New York motor vehicle records, so the information can’t be used to track down undocumented immigrants.

Green Light Law licenses cannot be used for federal identification purposes, like registering to vote.

Tom Homan, Trump’s pick for ‘Border Czar’ and the former director of ICE, wants to change or revoke the law.

In Trump’s new administration, Homan, a North Country native from Carthage, will be responsible for the ‘mass deportation’ of immigrants that Trump promised on the campaign trail.

Homan says getting rid of the Green Light Law is critical to public safety.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says that the state already communicates with federal immigration authorities when a crime has been committed.

State Attorney General Letitia James has previously defended the law, saying it makes roads safer and helps grow New York’s economy by allowing immigrants to become legal drivers.

Homan, soon to be a federal official, doesn’t have the power to change or revoke a state law. But he has threatened to block vehicles with New York license plates from entering the United States at the Canadian border.

New York Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to repeal the Green Light Law last year, specifically in counties that border Canada, including those here in the North Country.