ICE Acting Director Matthew Albence held a press conference in Troy to discuss New York's Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to gain driver's licenses.

Albence, speaking at the Rensselaer County jail, claimed barring access to DMV records puts the public at risk.  

"Every day that goes by where our officers and our agents are less safe because they can't get the information they need to do their job, and the people of this state are less safe because we are unable to do what we do to prevent crime and stop these criminal organizations, it's critical," Albence said.

Rensselaer County Sheriff Pat Russo says the law has hamstrrung law enforcement.

"All law enforcement agencies believe in providing public safety," Russo said. "They believe these issues are public safety issues and not political issues."

Protesters were honest outside the conference with their message against Albence's visit and against immigration enforcement’s desire to access state DMV records.

Some protesters called for the abolishment of ICE, one protester said she was “ashamed” ICE had been invited to her hometown, all while none of the protesters were allowed inside the building.

Miriam Axel-Lute, with Never Again Action Capital Region, was one of the dozens speaking against the visit of Albence. 

"We know they’re targeting broad communities of immigrants — they’re not just targeting criminals," Axel-Lute said.

County clerks, including Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola and Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, have been vocal in their disapproval of the Green Light Law. Still, protesters like Bryan MacCormack, with the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, said the provision of access to DMV information impacts everyone. 

"They protect the civil liberties of all New Yorkers and all New Yorkers should care," MacCormack said.

That’s something they wanted to ask Albence about but, despite requests, protesters were not allowed to. 

"I think there’s a lot of questions as to who is in that building? Who is collaborating with ICE?" MacCormack said.

Organizers said they had about 24 hours to plan the demonstration and they expect more would have attended if given extra time. 

At the press conference, Albence said Governor Andrew Cuomo was holding immigration enforcement officers “hostage” by restricting the sharing of information from the state's motor vehicle database. Cuomo responded.

"This is the Federal government’s Department of Homeland Security and ICE wants access to our Department of Motor Vehicle database which now has undocumented people in it. And they want access to that database with the undocumented people. They are not allowed access by our state law," Cuomo said. "So, they then said the Trusted Traveler program will be eliminated. I said I will give you the name of the Trusted Traveler program. They said not good enough, we want access to the database. They cannot have access to the database – that’s the law. And understand what they want: They want access to a database that has undocumented people who have done nothing wrong."

He continued, "If a person committed a crime, they have access to that database because the FBI gets it. So, anyone who committed a crime, the FBI knows. They want just undocumented [people] who are living peacefully, have not committed a crime, are not violent, so they can disrupt families, and continue their political jihad, which is what it is. It’s a pure political crusade. Opposing the federal government, they intend to retaliate and extort — it’s political extortion what they’re doing on the Trusted Traveler Program, and I think you see this across the board, and I’m not holding my breath for them to approve congestion pricing."