BY Ryan Whalen City of Albany

The United States Customs and Border Protection agency is voicing concerns about New York State’s new Green Light Law.

The law, which went into effect Monday, allows for undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses but it also greatly restricts information the Department of Motor Vehicles can share with federal law enforcement. CBP said it relies heavily on cooperation from its state and local partners to protect the public.

BY Nick Reisman City of Albany

A federal court on Friday upheld New York’s law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses — paving the way for the measure to take effect on Saturday.

The court rejected a challenge to the law from Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, who had challenged the measure’s constitutionality.

BY Ryan Whalen City of Albany

The Niagara County Clerk left a state Supreme Court hearing Thursday with more questions than he had at the outset with regards to enforcement of the state’s Green Light Law.

With the law, which allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses, set to go into effect Saturday, Clerk Joe Jastrzemski and the judge appeared to believe they had an agreement with the state Attorney General’s office. Jastrzemski’s staff would refer anybody applying for a license who they suspected was in the country illegally, to the state Department of Motor Vehicles until the Niagara County challenge was fully litigated.

BY Ryan Whalen Erie County
PUBLISHED 6:54 PM ET Dec. 10, 2019

Erie County employees have been thrust in the middle of a political and legal battle over New York’s new “Green Light Law.”

County Clerk Mickey Kearns, D, has maintained the auto bureaus under his management will not process driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, despite the new law. A source familiar with the situation said employees are “concerned, frightened and frustrated” about their position.

BY Ryan Whalen Buffalo
PUBLISHED 6:44 PM ET Dec. 10, 2019

A plan to post signs featuring the Immigration and Customs Enforcement tipline at Erie County Auto Bureau are running into issues – but not for the reasons you might think.

Last week, Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, D, said he would post signs with the I.C.E. tipline at every auto bureau customer service window. The move, in response to the state’s soon-to-be-effective Green Light Law granting driver’s license to undocumented immigrants, caused a stir on its own with elected officials and the general public coming out on both sides.