Assemblyman Christopher S. Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) is again calling out the Majority for providing illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses. The state has additionally prohibited information about these illegal immigrant drivers to be shared with the federal government. Because the US Department of Homeland Security can no longer access New York’s driver’s license records, the federal government has in turn suspended New Yorkers from applying for Trusted Traveler Programs such as Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST.

“Considering New York has faced one of the greatest losses of life due to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the perpetrators of which gained entry into our country by the use of false identification, it is beyond troubling that the majority in our state voted for a law that does so much to weaken the validity of our state identification system in an effort to give privileges to those who break our immigration laws,” said Friend. “The federal travel restrictions are just the beginning of the consequences law-abiding New Yorkers will face because of the Green Light Law.”

It’s estimated that 50,000 New Yorkers have applied for the Trusted Traveler Program but have not been approved due to the conflicts with the Green Light Law. Current participants in the Global Entry program may use their pass until it expires. Roughly 150,000 to 200,000 New Yorkers will lose access to these travel services after their pass expires. The TSA Pre-Check program is not affected.