DHS retaliates against NY sanctuary law

New Yorkers to face travel restrictions and other roadblocks as a result of new state pro-illegal-alien law

The Department of Homeland Security took unprecedented steps this week to protect national security in light of New York state’s recently enacted ‘Green Light’ law. The law, which was passed last summer and went into effect in December, allows illegal aliens to obtain a New York driver’s license and cuts off data sharing between the Department of Motor Vehicles and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection.

The New York law puts the interests of illegal aliens ahead of all Americans. Unfortunately, state lawmakers in the Empire State and Gov. Andrew Cuomo fail to realize that ICE and CBP do more within the Department of Homeland Security than simply conduct interior enforcement and border security. These two agencies play a major role in DHS’ overall effort to keep the homeland safe.

On Wednesday, DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf sent a letter to New York’s DMV headquarters, notifying the agency, and the state, that it will:

• Immediately suspend New Yorkers’ ability to enroll or re-enroll in the Trusted Travelers Programs, including Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST. This will prevent New Yorkers from traveling by air to Mexico and Canada using only a driver’s license and possibly subject them to secondary inspection at all ports of entry.
• Require mandatory verification of documents before exporting New York titled vehicles to other states since the law hinders the ability of DHS to validate documents.

You can read the letter DHS sent to NY officials here.

The DHS action is a strong move to protect national security and public safety in light of policies that prioritize the interests of illegal aliens over citizens and legal immigrants and will hopefully force other states looking to pass similar laws to rethink the consequences that passing such a law would have on its citizens. Several states, including Washington and Virginia, are looking into passing similar laws.

ACTION REINFORCES TRUMP’S SOTU MESSAGE

The DHS action comes on the heels of Pres. Trump’s State of the Union address where he made it clear that his Administration will not jeopardize public safety in the face of sanctuary policies.

The United States of America should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not criminal aliens.

– Pres. Trump, State of the Union, Feb. 4, 2020

Pres. Trump also highlighted the recent case where a criminal alien was released by New York City officials despite an ICE detainer and later killed a 92-year old woman.

The killer had been previously arrested for assault, but under New York’s sanctuary policies, he was set free. If the city had honored ICE’s detainer request, his victim would still be alive today.

– Pres. Trump