New York was the number one target for terrorists in 2001 when over 2,600 people perished in the 9/11 attacks. The Big Apple remains prominently in the terrorists’ crosshairs, so you would think that the state’s elected leadership would be the last politicians on earth to make it harder for law-enforcement to preempt future attacks. Well, think again.
Liberal Democrats in the Empire State appear far more concerned about playing identity politics and pandering to the far left than they are about protecting the citizens they were elected to represent.
New York State is not yet a sanctuary state, as are eight others throughout the nation. But, it’s getting close. Numerous cities and counties throughout the state have already implemented sanctuary policies that prohibit their employees from cooperating with the feds via sharing information on illegals, even when violent undocumented criminals are about to be set loose from prison and back onto our streets.
New York City’s insane sanctuary policy recently led to the raping and killing of a 92-year-old woman at the hands of criminal illegal aliens who committed the murder after being released from local police custody — and who otherwise would have been deported had New York City informed the feds of his whereabouts.
The lunacy has spread to the state capital in Albany where the Senate — once ruled by Republicans capable of blocking some of the more radical leftist policies — is now under the control of Democrats, many of whom see Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, D-N.Y., as their role model. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who once could have been considered a sensible moderate capable of blunting the more leftist leanings of the Democratic legislature, has morphed into a pandering leftist himself after the Working Families Party (a Socialist leaning entity) and actress Cynthia Nixon scared the bejesus out of him in a primary back in 2018.
State Senator Jose Serrano has introduced legislation that would officially make New York a sanctuary state. It didn’t pass last year, but watch out. What did pass was the Green Light Law, which provides, for the first time, the ability of illegal aliens to obtain a valid driver’s license. More alarming is the fact that the law prohibits federal officials, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees, from accessing the New York State Department of Motor Vehicle database.
This is not a case of New York preventing ICE agents from getting access they never had; it actually reverses policy that had allowed the feds access to the data to properly protect us. For instance, border agents at the Canada line would be unable to run a license plate in New York on a vehicle that is deemed suspicious and receive the information in real-time. Same with an ICE agent pursuing an MS-13 drug deal.
Meanwhile, one would think that New York’s leaders would be concerned about those here illegally being able to obtain false documentation, thereby allowing them to mix into our general society, open bank accounts and be immune from a good amount of federal oversight. Unfortunately, these laws granting licensing for illegal immigrants accomplish just that.
There used to be something special about a driver’s license. There was a sense that someone was vetted before the license was issued. No more. All an individual needs to do is present to the DMV a document issued by a foreign government, and bingo, he’s in. Of course, American authorities have absolutely no ability to validate those foreign processes.
Those employing illegal immigrants love it because they now have plausible deniability about having hired an alleged illegal alien. Terrorists love it, as do criminal illegal aliens who can get a whole new identity by simply picking up a false ID, with a stamp of approval, from a foreign country. Those who gain nothing from such a horrible system are American citizens themselves and law enforcement officials who now have far more handcuffs placed on them in their efforts to protect those in this very vulnerable targeted state.
And let’s not forget the message that providing such licensing conveys to those thinking about making the trek to cross our border illegally. They would rightly conclude this is a state welcoming them in.
Over the course of the impeachment process there was a great deal of rhetoric demanding enforcement of the rule of law. Funny how, to some of those very same people, that doesn’t seem to apply to enforcing our immigration laws.
Steve Levy is president of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a New York state assemblyman, and host of “The Steve Levy Radio Show.”
*Story by Fox News