New York’s County Clerks are meeting in Syracuse Monday to discuss a new law that requires county departments of motor vehicles to issue drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants. Meanwhile, some County clerks who are opposed to the law are pressing forward on a federal lawsuit.
Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola has been an outspoken opponent of granting standard drivers licenses to the immigrants. And he says he won’t comply with the law, which was approved in late June by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the democratic- led state legislature.
“I’m adamant that I won’t do it in my office, they are going to have to find another venue,” said Merola. “If somebody walks into my office, knowing that they are here illegally, we will not process a driver’s license for them.”
Opposition to the new law was a recurring theme at a July 1 meeting of state Republican Party leaders, which Merola was attending.
Merola says, for him, the issue is personal.
“I’m not anti-immigrant, I say this all the time, my wife is a naturalized citizen,” Merola said. “But my son is also a police officer.”
And he believes the licenses will hinder police from arresting undocumented immigrants who might commit crimes.
Merola, a Republican, may not have to face the choice of whether to comply with the law any time soon. He and other clerks are supporting a federal lawsuit that he says could be filed in the next several days Merola says New York’s local motor vehicle offices are uniquely structured. In other states, DMV personnel work for the state, in New York many DMV employees are paid by the individual county.
“52 County Clerks have over 100 DMV offices,” said Merola. “And we take an oath of office to support the constitution. ”
He says he believes that oath of allegiance to the U.S Constitution supersedes state law.
Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns says he believes the law is a “violation” of federal law. He told Buffalo public radio station WBFO that he’s written a letter to the Erie County Attorney asking for help to get a federal judge to issue an opinion.
Kearns says in 1986 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, stating that it is against the law to hire someone who is in the country without proper documentation.
“When they talk about people needing transportation to and from work, that are illegal, that’s illegal to hire those people,” Kearns said.
The New York Association of County Clerks in mid-June issued a letter expressing concerns about the measure. The group says local DMV staff are not trained to recognize whether a foreign passport is a fake and that counties do not have the money to hire extra staff for translations.
At Monday’s meeting in Syracuse, county clerks will continue to discuss their questions about the law, and what obstacles they might face in implementing it.
Proponents of the law say in other states, where the licenses have been issued for some time, traffic safety has improved, and there are fewer incidents of hit and run accidents. Senate sponsor Luis Sepulveda, during debate on the bill on the Senate floor, says not having a license means some immigrants are driving without one, but many others don’t drive and have great difficulty getting to work, or taking their children to school or a hospital.
"You look at these undocumented families, they cannot take their children to schools," Sepulveda said on June 17th. "Some of them have children so sick that it brought me to tears. Because they cannot take a sick child to the hospital for medical attention."
Governor Cuomo tried to put the brakes on the driver’s license measure just hours before its scheduled passage in the legislature. He said it might inadvertently make it easier for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to gain access to DMV databases. But state Attorney General Tish James said that the legislation protects against that happening.
Cuomo, speaking a few days after the measure was approved, says he does not expect any licenses to be issued until the lawsuit winds its way through the courts. And he predicts, that until then, undocumented immigrants won’t try to apply for the licenses.
“Not that many people would be signing up until they know they are not going to be subject to a federal government subpoena,” Cuomo said on June 21. “Which would aid in deportation.”
Cuomo has the power to remove county clerks from office if they refuse to carry out a state law. The governor refused to say if he’ll do that, saying it’s premature to talk about that scenario until the federal lawsuit is settled.
Merola, the Rensselaer County Clerk, also says he’ll cope with potential confrontation down the road.
Erie County Clerk Kearns says ultimately, President Trump and Congress need to fix the nation’s broken immigration laws.
