New York allowed to keep giving illegal aliens drivers licenses after Biden-appointed judge's ruling

A New York judge appointed by Biden has dismissed the Trump administration’s challenge to the Green Light law, which gives driver’s licenses to those without legal proof of eligibility.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in New York in February, naming Governor Kathy Hochul as well as Letitia James, NY’s attorney general, as defendants. US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said that they had prioritized “illegal aliens over American citizens” in a news conference announcing the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit said that the law was a “frontal assault on the federal immigration laws, and the federal authorities that administer them.” The lawsuit pointed out a provision that requires the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to inform illegal aliens when a federal immigration agency has requested information about them. 

Anne M. Nardacci, US District Judge in Albany, NY, ruled that the administration failed to support claims that the state law usurped federal law, or that it unlawfully regulated or discriminated against the federal government, according to the Associated Press. 

Narducci wrote that her job was not to evaluate the desirability of the Green Light Law on its policy but rather to determine whether arguments established that the law violated the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which gives federal laws precedence over state laws. She wrote that the administration “failed to state such a claim.” 

James issued a statement on Friday, saying, “As I said from the start, our laws protect the rights of New Yorkers and keep our communities safe,” and “I will always stand up for New Yorkers and the rule of law.”

The NY law allows people without a valid Social Security number to submit alternate forms of ID, including passports and driver’s licenses from other countries, and does not apply to commercial driver’s licenses. Those applying still need to get a permit and pass a road test.

This follows many incidents recently of illegal aliens, some on ICE detainers, being involved in fatal vehicle crashes. In October, an illegal immigrant in Idaho was charged with killing 3 people in a California truck crash.