Debate Over Green Light Bill Comes To Troy
By Amy L. Modesti
The debate over providing a New York State’s driver’s license to an illegal immigrant continued Wednesday, April 24 at the Rensselaer County Department of Motor Vehicles. In a small entrance area full of journalists, protesters, politicians, (and a few residents that squeezed through the area to conduct business inside the DMV headquarters), was a political event about Senate Bill S.1747, also known as the “Green Light Bill.” The bill, introduced on January 16, (and presently in the Senate Transportation Committee), provides illegal immigrants the right to obtain a driver’s license.
The opponents of the “Green Light Bill” that spoke among the crowded room included Senator Daphne Jordan (R,C,I, Halfmoon), Craig Hayner (Saratoga County Clerk), Steve McLaughlin (Rensselaer County Executive), Frank Merola (Rensselaer County Clerk), Jake Ashby (Assemblyman, R.C.I. Castleton), Pat Russo (Rensselaer County Sheriff), David Bartlett (Columbia County Sherriff), and Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo’s office. Assemblyman Marybeth Walsh wasn’t present at the conference but expressed opposition to the bill as well. Supporters of the “Green Light Bill” were also present, from an organization called “Green Light NY Driving Together.” Some held multi-colored signs saying, “All are welcome here.”
Jordan, the first to speak on the pending Senate bill, called the “Green Light Bill” a “bad bill.” She said she and the other representatives are standing up for public safety.
“This is not, not, not about immigrants. This is about our laws, what’s legal and protecting our law-abiding citizens. It’s about law and respect for the law,” said Jordan. According to the Senator, the bill would allow illegal immigrants to secure driving privileges, which she says “would jeopardize traffic safety and compromise public security for all New Yorkers.” As soon as Jordan ended her statement, members of the “Green Light NY Driving Together” raised their voices to sing the verses of “This Land Is Your Land.” Jordan shouted back, “This land is for all of us, but we must do it legally.”
Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, who has run the Rensselaer County DMV for over thirty years, said he has never given an illegal immigrant a driver’s license and he plans not to as long he is County Clerk.
In order to become law, the “Green Light Bill” still must be moved out of the Senate committee, approved by both the Senate and Assembly, and be signed by Governor Cuomo.