Spitzer Alters License Plan: In Change to Proposal, State Will Now Offer Three Tiers to Driver IDs,

Oct 28, 06:35 AM

Current Headlines: By Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union, N.Y.

Oct. 28--ALBANY -- In a major change to what has become his most controversial proposal since taking office, Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Saturday struck something of a compromise on issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

The governor said New York will now offer a three-track plan that will provide separate licenses for citizens but will allow illegal immigrants to get licenses, too.

"There is already evidence of enormous support for this," Spitzer told the Times Union shortly after returning from Washington, D.C., where he unveiled the plan with federal Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Spitzer said he had been talking with Chertoff's office for "several weeks" before finalizing the plan.

The plan, which drew mixed reaction Saturday, allows undocumented immigrants to get a basic New York driver's license. Citizens also can get this basic license if they want to.

But U.S. citizens and others who are here legally also will have two other options.

One would be an Enhanced License open to citizens that will allow passage across the Canadian and Mexican borders without a passport.

This is important, say state officials, because of a federal law scheduled to take effect next summer would require passports to cross those borders without an enhanced or real ID license.

Additionally, New Yorkers can opt for a Real ID license, which will require a Social Security number or other proof of citizenship or lawful residence. Under the federal Real ID law passed two years ago, these federally sanctioned licenses will be needed to board airplanes or to enter federal buildings. Without such licenses, people will need a passport.

The Enhanced License will likely cost an additional $20, on top of the $50 New York now charges for its standard license that must be renewed every eight years, said Spitzer spokesman Jeffrey Gordon. The Real ID will also have an extra charge, although that hasn't been finalized.

In announcing the plan, Spitzer is tacitly acknowledging the widespread opposition to his original plan to grant illegal immigrants the same driver's licenses as citizens and those who are here legally.

With polls showing 72 percent of New Yorkers oppose that idea, and open revolt among some fellow Democrats, the governor may have felt compelled to back down or at least ease up, especially in light of the pressure that town and county candidates were feeling leading up to next month's local elections.

More than a dozen county clerks have vowed not to issue licenses to illegal aliens, and at least one lawsuit has been filed against the plan. Additionally, clerks in Erie and Niagara counties last week said they would alert police and immigration officials when illegal aliens came in for licenses.

That was notable since Erie County Clerk Kathleen Hochul was a Spitzer appointee and her stance epitomized the opposition, even among loyal Democrats.

Despite the compromise, Republicans and immigration advocates reacted harshly, but for different reasons.

Republicans said the plan still lets illegal immigrants drive.

"The flip by this governor today does not change the fact that he is arrogantly insisting on giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

While adding that "today's announcement is definitely a step toward common sense," Assembly Republican Minority Leader Jim Tedisco had questions about the equipment used to verify documents submitted to apply for licenses, which, according to an earlier Times Union story, was trouble prone. Tedisco also questioned the plan's cost.

On the other side, immigration advocates accused Spitzer of buckling in the face of criticism.

"We're disappointed that the governor is in some ways caving in to the anti-immigration rhetoric being posed by Republicans in the Senate and the Assembly," said Jose Davila, state government relations director for the New York State Immigration Coalition, which plans a protest today at Spitzer's New York City office.

And Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, charged that Spitzer has "bowed to fear-mongering and turned New York into a poster child for the Bush administration's assault on civil liberties."

Immigrant groups fear that a driver's license for illegal immigrants would amount to a "scarlet letter" that would deter people from coming forward.

Civil libertarians oppose the federal Real ID movement in which states by 2013 will need Social Security-verified licenses in order to board planes and enter federal buildings.

Spitzer's allies, though, were quick to praise what they termed a common-sense compromise.

"The goal was to provide driver's licenses to as many New Yorkers as possible and that's what the governor has accomplished and I applaud him for it," said Assemblyman Peter Rivera, D-Bronx, an influential member of the Legislature's Hispanic wing.

"It's a smart policy that secures our borders and facilitates legitimate cross-border travel and commerce," added Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, which is near the Canadian border. North Country residents, who now move freely between New York, Quebec and Ontario, have feared that a passport requirement could cripple cross-border trade. The Enhanced License could solve that problem.

The state Chiefs of Police association and State Police union are also backing the plan.

In embracing the Real ID plan, New York joins Arizona, Vermont and Washington. Other states have expressed concern about Real ID, questioning its workability and cost. Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

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