Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) is troubled by a concerted effort from Assembly Majority who are moving a bill through the Committee on Transportation to give illegal immigrants driver’s licenses and permits. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has said that he will bring the bill to the floor for a vote next week. According to a Siena Poll earlier this year, a majority of New Yorkers opposed the proposal.

“Proponents claim that this bill will make our streets safer, but this is far from the truth. This bill not only would give illegal immigrant driver’s licenses, it would open the door for anyone to obtain multiple licenses, since the measure would only require one form of verification from a foreign country and does not allow DMV staff to question the applicant. This is in stark contrast to the reality faced by our law-abiding citizens and legal residents who jump through hoops to prove their identification. This was recently highlighted to me when I took my son to apply for his own driver’s license which required multiple forms of ID,” said Friend.

“Reading the legislation as it is written, and the difficulties staff would face in attempting to verify identification documents, individuals who lost their license for multiple DWIs or felony convictions could easily obtain these watered-down, state issued ‘fake’ licenses and be back on the street. It doesn’t stop there, this legislation opens the door for voter fraud as well, creating a potential where foreign nationals could be added to voter rolls when applying for a license. This bill would just be exposing New York to too much risk if passed.”