FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 21, 2007
DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES CHANGES LICENSE POLICY TO INCLUDE MORE NEW YORKERS AND IMPLEMENTS NEW REGIME OF ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN THE SECURITY OF THE SYSTEM
September 21, 2007
Improves Safety of New York Streets, Lowers Auto Insurance Rates and Brings more New Yorkers into the System
Governor Eliot Spitzer and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner David Swarts today announced an administrative policy change that will give all New Yorkers the opportunity to apply for state driver licenses without regard to immigration status. Tied to the policy change, the Governor and Commissioner also announced plans to implement a new regime of anti-fraud measures to increase the security of the licensing system as a new population of New Yorkers comes into the system.
The DMV estimates that tens of thousands of undocumented, unlicensed and uninsured drivers are currently on New York’s roads, contributing to increased accidents and hit-and-runs as well as higher auto insurance rates. In addition, bringing more New Yorkers into the system will ensure a greater number of people have a license record that, if necessary, can be used to enhance law enforcement efforts.
“I applaud the DMV and Commissioner Swarts for making this commonsense change that deals practically with the reality that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants live among us and that allowing them the opportunity to obtain driver licenses in a responsible and secure manner will help increase public safety,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer. “After a comprehensive review, DMV has developed changes that will increase the security of our license system by obtaining better and more verifiable information from applicants, which will decrease the number of uninsured drivers on the roads, lower auto insurance rates for all drivers and, when necessary help law enforcement agencies in their investigations.”
Commissioner Swarts said: “This policy change allows the DMV to focus its resources on its core mission – to ensure that every person driving on our roads is fit to drive and can prove his or her identity. Currently, too many drivers are unlicensed and uninsured simply because they do not have a social security number. Rather than bury our heads in the sand and pretend the problem does not exist, today we are choosing to confront it and in doing so greatly improve the safety of our roads.”
To ensure a smooth transition without disruption to regular customer service, the implementation of the policy change will take place in two phases:
Phase 1 will begin immediately. Informational letters from DMV will be sent to the approximately 152,000 New Yorkers, who at one point had (or currently have) a New York State license, but are unable to renew it because of the previous administrative policy. DMV will notify these former and current license holders of the policy change and will begin the re-licensing process at the end of 2007. Those affected will still need to prove their identity, date of birth and fitness to drive before being issued a new license.
Phase 2 will begin six to eight months after Phase 1 and will open the application process to all New Yorkers.
The time period between phases will allow the DMV to make the necessary infrastructure and staffing improvements to accommodate the expected increase in customer volume while maintaining the highest level of customer service and anti-fraud security.
The benefits of this policy change include:
- Safer Streets: In its report, “Unlicensed to Kill,” the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that unlicensed drivers are almost five times more likely to be in a fatal crash than are validly licensed drivers.
- Lower Insurance Rates: The State Department of Insurance estimates that expanded license access will reduce the premium costs associated with uninsured motorist coverage by 34% which will save New York drivers $120 million each year. Other states with similar policies have seen their auto insurance rates drop as well.
- Safer Homeland: This policy change helps bolster homeland security by bringing more individuals into the system and, when necessary, assisting law enforcement efforts to locate those who present a real security threat.
The new policy will apply to all state-issued licenses that are not governed by certain federal laws that require a social security number, like commercial driver licenses and hazardous materials endorsements. Currently, eight other states – Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington – do not require drivers to prove legal status in order to obtain a license. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said: “When the previous Governor changed the requirements for law-abiding immigrant citizens to obtain a driver’s license, the Assembly Majority held public hearings and urged the Pataki Administration to change the regulations. But it took a change in the administration to get where we are today. I applaud Governor Spitzer for his actions. To deny law-abiding immigrant New Yorkers access to a driver’s license and make it more difficult for hardworking families to get to work, the hospital or even get their children to school is to admit that terrorism has won.”
Senate Minority Leader Malcolm A. Smith said: “I am pleased to endorse this very fair and reasonable change in policy by the Spitzer administration. This change will enhance public safety while allowing driver licenses to be granted to those able to meet reasonable standards of proof of identity.”
State Police Acting Superintendent Preston Felton said: “DMV’s new steps to increase security and validate identification will reduce fraud and increase safety. Ensuring more of our drivers are properly licensed and qualified to drive results in safer streets.”
State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said: “Now, people with insurance pay the costs when people without insurance have accidents. That’s not right. Experience in other states makes it clear that when drivers have licenses, they are much more likely to buy insurance. We project that this program will substantially cut the cost of uninsured drivers and that means millions of dollars in savings on auto insurance.”
Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Balboni said: “We have been meticulous in ensuring that this change in policy, and the new security measures we are putting in place, strengthen our homeland security efforts by licensing a population of New Yorkers who previously had no public records.”
Margaret Stock, an immigration and national security law expert who is an Attorney and Lieutenant Colonel in the Military Police, US Army Reserve, is currently assigned as a part-time Associate Professor at the US Military Academy at West Point. Ms. Stock, who is also chair of the International Security Affairs Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, said: “New York State’s new policy will enhance the security of New Yorkers and all Americans. Granting driver licenses to all residents of a state who can prove their identity allows law enforcement officials to find persons who may be security threats, and gives law enforcement officials more tools to prevent and solve crimes.”
President of the New York State AFL-CIO Denis Hughes said: “We applaud Governor Spitzer for his actions today. Equal access to a driver's license, regardless of immigration status, is essential to the public safety and well-being of all New Yorkers.”
Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition and Co-Founder of the New York Coalition for Immigrants’ Rights to Driver’s Licenses said: “Our state’s new driver’s license policy is a win-win for immigrants and for all New Yorkers. Not only does it enable more New Yorkers to get licensed and insured, making our roads much safer, but it’s going to make our licensing system far more secure and immune to fraud. We applaud the Governor for developing a smart and fair solution that can serve as a model for the rest of the nation.”
Amy Sugimori, co-chair of the New York Coalition for Immigrants’ Rights to Driver’s Licenses said: “Today’s announcement is a huge victory for the immigrant, civil rights and labor movements. For four years, diverse groups from across the state have been working to ensure that all New Yorkers are treated equally by the government. Today our voices are being heard. We applaud Governor Spitzer for his leadership as he sends a strong message to the country that second-class treatment of immigrants is bad public policy.”
State law requires license applicants to prove their identity, date of birth and fitness to drive, and to provide a social security number (SSN). The SSN requirement was added in 1995 as part of an effort to punish parents who were not paying child support. In 2002, a state regulation was adopted to allow applicants who are ineligible for a SSN to also apply for driver licenses. Following this step, the DMV then issued an administrative policy that effectively made it impossible for illegal immigrants to obtain driver licenses by stipulating that the only way to define “ineligibility” would be through obtaining a formal letter of ineligibility from the Social Security Administration, a letter that is only obtainable by individuals who have legal immigration status.
It is this last administrative policy that the DMV is changing. Starting in the phases discussed above, license applicants will check a box on the license application that states that the applicant is not eligible to receive a social security number. Instead of presenting a SSN or a letter of ineligibility, individuals instead will provide a current foreign passport and other valid and verifiable documents to prove identity. As such, the DMV will be able to achieve its primary goal in issuing licenses, which is to ensure that the initial who is receiving the license is not misrepresenting themselves to obtain a fraudulent identity card, and controlling who has access to driving motor vehicles
The DMV’s new anti-fraud measures will make the current system even more secure in a number of ways. It will utilize new state-of-the-art document verification technology, including photograph comparison tools and specially-trained staff with expertise in foreign-sourced identity documents, and a proposal to implement a residency requirement for all state license holders.
- The DMV’s secure “6-point ID requirement” will be based on an expanded list of valid and verifiable documents. Along with the other identity documents currently on the list, individuals’ identities will be verified using this new document verification technology to reduce the potential for fraud.
- The DMV has begun a pilot program to test photo comparison technology, which will prevent a person from obtaining more than one license under more than one name. Currently, 18 states use photo comparison technology as part of their fraud-protection system.
- The DMV will also train personnel in verifying foreign-sourced identity documents.
- Finally, as a further fraud-prevention measure, the DMV will propose to require a license applicant prove his or her New York State residency in order to be eligible for a state-issued license. Currently, 27 states have such residency requirements.
There will be no increase to the current license fee as a result of these changes.
For more information, please go to www.nysdmv.com.
Please call Governor Spitzer (518-474-8390) to tell him, "I am calling to thank you for your leadership in improving the drivers’ license system to protect public safety for all New Yorkers and setting a national example."
Urge your state to adopt similar drivers' license policy that's tough but fair.
For more information, please contact Milan Bhatt, Immigrant Worker Advocacy Coordinator at the New York Immigrant Coalition (NYIC), 212-627-2227 ext. 233 or mbhatt@thenyic.org. You can also visit www.thenyic.org.
May 1st - Great American Boycott II
STOP THE RAIDS & DEPORTATIONS!
Defeat the anti-worker, anti-immigrant and anti-union attacks!
SUPPORT MAY DAY 2007 ACTIONS FOR
Whereas, the March 25th Coalition, based in Los Angeles, which spearheaded the massive protests for immigrant rights in the spring of 2006 [that were victorious in defeating the repressive HR 4437 Sensenbrenner bill], has joined with a broad coalition of organizations in the Latino, Black, Filipino, Labor and other communities, to form the May 1st National Movement for Worker and Immigrant Rights, calling for mass demonstrations on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 in cities across the country including Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York City, San Antonio, Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, San Francisco, Detroit, and many other cities demonstrating "the growing unity among US and foreign born workers"; and
Whereas, the San Francisco Labor Council on April 3, 2006, in a "Resolution in Support of Immigrant Workers" -- noting the AFL-CIO's February 16, 2000 "historic resolution in support of amnesty for immigrant workers" -- called for mobilizing in support of "full legalization and equal rights for undocumented immigrants" and supporting the call for the May 1st, 2006 national day of protest; and
Whereas, on May 22, 2006, the San Francisco Labor Council adopted the "National Statement to Support Human and Civil Rights for All Immigrants", issued by the National Network on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, calling for "fair and just immigration reform for all" and solid worker protections, and opposing then-current legislation which would have created new "guest worker" (transient servitude) programs; and
Whereas, on March 10, 2007, 22 organizations in the immigrant community and their allies came together in San Francisco to begin planning for a march for worker and immigrant rights in San Francisco on May 1, 2007, in conjunction with the national demonstrations; and
Whereas, federal immigration authorities including ICE have been conducting brutal raids on workplaces and people's homes -- from the arrest of 1,300 workers at Swift & Co . meatpacking plants in six states on December 12, 2006, to more recent raids in the Bay Area, at the Smithfield hog processing plant in North Carolina and elsewhere -- terrorizing and separating families, intimidating the workers and interfering with union organization at the workplaces, in a massive violation of civil and union rights; therefore be it
Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council endorse and encourage participation in the May Day 2007 marches and other protest activities in San Francisco and cities nationwide, behind the banner of
1) Legalization and equal rights for immigrant workers;
2) Stop the brutal raids on immigrant workers;
3) No "guest worker" programs;
4) A moratorium on deportations;
5) Uniting workers of all nationalities and races in the struggle for our rights and our future .
--Adopted March 12, 2007 by the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, by unanimous vote
Immigration debate returns to Congress
By Jerry Kammer
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
February 28, 2007
WASHINGTON – Congress and the White House are set to begin another rancorous season of immigration debate this week as two Bush administration officials travel to Capitol Hill to make the president's case for legalizing millions of immigrants and welcoming potentially millions of temporary workers.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez are scheduled to appear today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the starting point for the sweeping immigration bill that passed the Senate last year before slamming against a wall of Republican opposition in the House.
It's opening day" for an overhaul of immigration policy, said Frank Sharry, a leader of the coalition that unites Hispanic rights groups, labor unions and church organizations with an array of business interests clamoring for wider access to low-wage workers.
The volatile politics of immigration policy took a turn in November's midterm election as Democrats, historically aligned with groups who seek to expand immigration, took control of both houses of Congress.
Many Democratic candidates won after taunting the "do-nothing Republican Congress" for its failure to manage immigration and its passage of legislation to build a border fence without funding it.
"That became a laugh line to show how ridiculous Republicans were," said Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum.
The leader of a Washington think tank that argues for restrictions on immigration said that if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, wants to preserve the Democratic majority, she will need to move cautiously on immigration. While a sweeping legalization measure would appeal to much of the party's base, it could endanger the seats of newly elected Democrats, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Krikorian prefers to call legalization "amnesty," a term shunned by immigrant advocates who speak of "earned adjustment."
"A big amnesty would be a big problem for the Democrats who won in swing districts," Krikorian said. "In the next election, challengers would be able to run against the 'left-wing Nancy Pelosi amnesty.' "
Many of those swing districts are in areas of the country where there is widespread alarm at the nation's rapid growth of illegal immigrants – estimated at 12 million and increasing at 500,000 a year.
Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, has said he expects the Bush administration to persuade at least 85 Republicans to vote for the legalization measure.
"They're going after Republicans because they know they're going to have to give some of their own members a bye when this comes up for a vote," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who is weighing a 2008 presidential bid to showcase his hard-line stance against illegal immigration.
Tancredo said the Bush administration is trumpeting its ramped-up enforcement measures at the border and at job sites to win the votes of reluctant members.
"They want to tell Congress, 'We've done our job, now you do yours with a guest-worker program,' " Tancredo said. "My message is that as soon as you give them a guest-worker program, that will be the end of enforcement."
Partisans are waiting for President Bush to state his position on one of the most controversial issues before Congress: Should workers who come to the United States on future guest-worker visas be put on a path to citizenship or required to return home?
"He has been deliberately ambiguous on that one," said Sharry, pointing to Bush's previous calls for Congress to "match willing workers with willing employers" without stating the terms of such an arrangement.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel this week said that such a program "must be truly temporary, so participation should be for a limited period of time and guest workers would have to return home" after a period set by Congress.
Tamar Jacoby, an immigration advocate and scholar at the free-market, pro-business Manhattan Institute think tank, said Congress must move on immigration legislation before the fall, when the 2008 presidential campaign will make both parties reluctant to act on such a controversial issue.
"I would say that it's a universal belief that if it doesn't happen by August, we're cooked," Jacoby said.
If a wide-ranging measure fails, immigrant advocates might then look to less ambitious reforms, such as the Agjobs bill that would provide a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of farmworkers and their families, or the Dream Act, to provide a path to citizenship for people who came illegally to the United States at an early age, many of them brought by their parents.
Senator Clinton Aligns With Bush on Immigration
By RUSSELL BERMAN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
February 21, 2007
MIAMI — As Senator Clinton prepares to face off with many of her Democratic rivals today, she aligned herself directly with President Bush on the issue of immigration, using a campaign stop in South Florida to highlight a rare point of agreement with an administration that she criticizes at every turn.
Speaking to about 300 community leaders in an area with a large immigrant population, Mrs. Clinton staked out a centrist position on the hot-button topic, saying she supported a "pathway to legalization" for the nation's 11 million to 12 million estimated undocumented immigrants, but only if they waited in line and paid fines. She described her stance as "basically" what the president has proposed.
"I think, on this issue, the president is right," Mrs. Clinton said.
Immigration is one of few areas where Mr. Bush may find common ground with the Democratic Congress, but Mrs. Clinton's frank characterization was unusual in a presidential campaign in which even Republican contenders are distancing themselves from the White House on some issues.
It comes a day before the Democrats gather in Carson City, Nev., for the first candidate forum of the 2008 race. The event could yield the sharpest distinctions yet among a crowded field of hopefuls, but the candidates are not expected to meet face to face. Instead, they will take questions individually from ABC News's George Stephanopoulos, who rose to prominence as a top adviser to President Clinton when he ran for the White House in 1992. The forum will also be missing one of the early front-runners for the nomination, Senator Obama, who will be campaigning in Iowa instead.
Iraq and health care have dominated the early Democratic race, but immigration could loom large when it comes up for debate in Congress, where five of the party's White House contenders may have to cast votes. Another candidate, Governor Richardson of New Mexico — a border state — supports a guest-worker program but staunchly opposes the construction of a physical fence.
Increased US fees is hardship, immigrants & lawyers say
20 February 2007
Worried immigrants across the United States are checking their budgets. The cost of filing more than two dozen kinds of immigration forms is proposed to go up by an average of 66% this year.
For the vast majority of legal immigrants who are just starting to apply for residency, fees for filing forms and for being fingerprinted would go from $935 to $1985.
"A lot of them are making very difficult choices, between food and bills and rent and these fees, plus whatever they have to pay an attorney," said attorney Susan Bowyer. "Even with our reduced fees, it would be a real hardship."
Russian immigrant Sveta Nikitina is trying to support herself and a 7-year-old son on a preschool teacher's salary while waiting to become a permanent resident.
The fees have already affected her careful bookkeeping. The $350 Nikitina paid this year to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would go up to $645 annually, or a little bit more than an 80¢ per day increase. That is just for filing the forms to renew her work and travel permits.
"It was a huge amount of money for me," Nikitina said. "I went into overdraft to do it, but what else can I do - throw in the towel, just give up?"
Last year, 730,642 immigrants applied to become U.S. citizens, and 497,005 applied to become permanent residents. Some people are allowed to file for free, including members of the military and refugees.
The USCIS is required by Congress to support its operations with fees. It plans to use the increased money to reduce lengthy delays in processing certain applications, strengthen its security and fraud investigations teams and modernize equipment, said agency spokeswoman Sharon Rummery.
Some of the agency's goals - speeding up processing, putting files online instead of in boxes and clearing the backlog - are in the applicants' interest, she said.
"We've come very far," she said. "There used to be lines that would go around the block. We don't have that anymore."
The federal government implemented smaller fee increases in 2004, to account for the additional costs of in-depth background checks required after the September 11, 2001, attacks. In 2005, to keep up with inflation, all fees were increased by $10
Currently, USCIS has just finished spending nearly a half billion dollars in special funding to cover upgrade costs and other increased costs for services. Over the next two years, the agency is expected to run about $1 billion in debt, with the new fee schedule designed to pay it off and to fund upgrades and services at the same time.
It should also be noted that most of the fees are in a very similar range for immigration services in most western countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia. In the U.S., fees have been kept artificially low by tax-funded subsidies for many years, and the current correction can also be seen as somewhat overdue.
In actuality, these prices can seem a bargain when compared with other regions. Latvia in the north of East Europe, for one example, can cost a non-EU citizen nearly $2000 per year for a basic work permit-based residency visa when all the associated fees are tallied up. Earning potential in Latvia is one of the lowest in Europe, barely above Romania and Bulgaria, and runs at approximately 20% of the income that immigrants to the U.S. might expect.
However, immigrants and their attorneys fear the fee increases will hurt people who are trying to follow the rules, stalling their immigration process or delaying their ability to bring over close relatives.
"The impact is ... likely to be immediate and profound," said Crystal Williams, of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Advocates fear some might try to cut costs by trying to navigate the complexities of immigration law without an attorney.
"Immigration law today is a much more dangerous thicket than it was a decade ago," said Williams. "The wrong mistake could not only cause a person to lose his shot at citizenship, it could cost him his green card and his ability to live lawfully in the U.S."
New US citizenship test launched
16 February 2007
Ten cities across the United States are launching a experimental citizenship test designed to make immigrants think about the answers rather than answer through rote memorization. San Antonio and El Paso began the program on 15 February 2007; the other eight cities will begin their trial runs this month.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wants 6,000 people to take the test. Immigration officials mailed letters beforehand to people eligible for the trial exam that encouraged them to take it as a "unique chance to make a contribution to your new country." Others will continue to take the current test.
Volunteers are not penalized for failing the experimental test; applicants can simply move on to the normal test afterwards.
Volunteers will answer questions on U.S. history and government. Many of the questions are designed to be concept-oriented, as opposed to questions that can be answered through memorization of historical facts.
To pass the civics section of the trial test, volunteers must orally answer six of ten questions correctly. If they fail to pass, they are allowed to take the regular test afterward.
The other cities slated to launch the trial test are Albany, New York; Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; Denver; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami; Tucson, Arizona; and Yakima, Washington.
Once the experiment is finished, the government will trim the test down to 100 questions, with input from community groups and educators.
Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, spokeswoman for USCIS said, "I want to make sure that people understand this is certainly not to make the test more difficult. We will continue to accept immigrants literally from countries A to Z. We just want to make sure that when they're (reciting) the oath of allegiance, raising their right hand at the time of the ceremony, that they understand our process here in this country and what our forefathers stood for."
According to USCIS, revision of the test is expected to cost $6.5 million.