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A federal judge on Tuesday gave the green light to New York’s so-called Green Light law, rejecting the Trump administration’s effort to prevent the state from granting driver’s licenses to people without providing proof they are in the country legally.
U.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacki in Albany ruled that the Republican administration — which challenged the law as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration — had failed to support its claims that the state law preempts federal law or that it unlawfully regulates or discriminates against the federal government.
Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state over the law in February, naming Governor Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James as defendants. At a press conference announcing the trial, US Attorney General Pam Bondi charged both officers democrat“Prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens.”
“As I said from the beginning, our laws protect the rights of everyone New Yorker And keep our communities safe,” James said in a statement Friday. “I will always stand up for New Yorkers and the rule of law.”
A message seeking comment was left for the Justice Department.
Nardacci, a Democrat appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden, wrote that his job was not to evaluate the desirability of Green Light legislation as a policy matter. Rather, he said in a 23-page opinion, it was to assess whether the Trump administration’s arguments established that the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives federal laws priority over state laws.
The administration “has failed to state such a claim,” he wrote.
Green light laws were implemented partly to improve public safety on the roads, as unlicensed people sometimes drove without a license, or without passing a road test. The state also makes it easier for such license holders to obtain auto insurance, thus reducing accidents caused by uninsured drivers.
Under the law, people who do not have a valid Social Security number can submit alternative forms of ID including valid passports and driver’s licenses issued in other countries. Applicants must still obtain a permit and pass a road test to qualify for a “standard driver’s license”. This does not apply to commercial driver’s licenses.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit sought to strike down the law, calling it a “direct attack on federal immigration laws and the federal officials who administer them.” It highlights a provision that requires the commissioner of the state Department of Motor Vehicles to notify people who are in the country illegally when a federal immigration agency asks for their information.
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, his administration tried to pressure New York to change the law by barring anyone from the state from enrolling in trusted traveler programs, meaning they would spend more time going through security lines at airports.
The governor at that time, Andrew CuomoOffered to restore federal access to driving records on a limited basis, but said he would not let immigration agents see the list of people who applied for a special license available to immigrants who could not prove legal residence in the US. The administration eventually restored New Yorkers’ access to the trusted traveler program after a brief legal battle.
In the lawsuit dismissed Tuesday, the administration argued that federal immigration priorities might be easier to enforce if federal officials had unfettered access to New York driver information. Nardacci reiterated the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in a county clerk’s earlier challenge to the law, writing that such information “remains available to federal immigration authorities” through a valid court order or judicial warrant.