Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf has asked the agencies involved in Homeland Security to study how state laws that allow illegal aliens to obtain drivers’ licenses affect their departments’ enforcement efforts. The acting secretary’s request comes in the wake of recent state laws passed in New York and New Jersey that allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses without having to show proof that they are lawfully present in the Unites States. The laws also restricts what information state agencies can share with federal immigration authorities.
The laws prohibit state Department of Motor Vehicles officials from providing data to agencies that enforce immigration law unless a judge orders it. New York cut off database access to at least three federal agencies last week when the law went into effect.
Wolf said in his memo, obtained by The Associated Press, that the department must be “prepared to deal with and counter these impacts as we protect the homeland.”
Republicans Introduce OMAR Act to Deal With Corruption in Congress
The cost of this grocery staple is nearing record highs — and Americans can’t get enough
Judge says Abrego Garcia Supreme Court ruling may shape Venezuelan deportation case
Florida Poaches Yet Another Juggernaut California Business as Economic Red Shift Continues
Jasmine Crockett’s vulgar 6-word message for Trump in Epstein probe
Senate Republicans find their secret weapon as they try to navigate midterm ‘headwinds’ with Palm Beach getaway
Watch: Patriots Player Helps Take Down Field Invader in Moment Not Seen During Broadcast
Ghislaine Maxwell pleads Fifth Amendment, dodges questions in House Oversight Epstein probe
GOP accelerates Trump judge confirmations as pressure builds to kill Senate blue slip
Turning Point USA’s Alternative Halftime Show Draws Huge Numbers
Nancy Guthrie’s church prays God would ‘guide the authorities’ in search
US forces hunt down and board tanker ship defying Trump admin quarantine
Hochul running mate voted to allow noncitizen voting in NYC elections
Bogus businesses and ‘lax’ oversight: How hospice fraud has flourished in California
Bad Bunny’s halftime show ripped for suspected political message and more top headlines
An estimated 265,000 immigrants without legal documents were expected to get driver’s licenses within three years, more than half of them in New York City, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
Applicants must still get a permit and pass a road test to qualify for a “standard driver’s license,” which cannot be used for federal purposes like an enhanced driver’s license or Real ID.
Wolf’s directive asks that each agency survey what DMV information is already available, how it is used in day-to-day operations, and what are the security consequences without the data.
According to NorthJersey.com, an estimated 338,000 illegal immigrants in New Jersey are expected to receive driver’s licenses in the first three years under the new law.
