May 2020 – New York state implemented its new “Green Light Law” on December 16, 2019, approving driver’s licenses for illegal aliens. The law also bars state agencies from releasing information in state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who are investigating criminal suspects.
Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts explained, “So, if Border Patrol came and said, ‘Hey, we want to look through your records because we’re looking for this guy,’ I can’t share our investigation with them if it has DMV data.”
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said ICE has often used New York DMV data to combat narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, transnational gangs, and other crimes. But now, ICE can’t even run a license plate search on a vehicle owner “who has committed a heinous crime.”
