The federal Department of Justice, for the first time, is weighing in on New York’s new Green Light Law.
Under the law, effective December 14, undocumented immigrants will be able to apply for driver’s licenses at Department of Motor Vehicle and county auto bureau facilities. The DOJ filed a memorandum Thursday as an intervenor in Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola’s challenge of the law.
The federal government only addressed the constitutionality of components of the law that restrict state and local governments from sharing information with immigration enforcement agencies. DOJ trial attorney Charles Roberts said the two sections of the Constitution provide for that information sharing.
The Green Light law, meanwhile, does restrict DMVs from asking for specific records or using information “for civil immigration purposes.” Furthermore, upon receiving a request for records from immigration authorities, the commissioner is required to inform the subject their information had been requested and by what agency within three days.
DOJ pointed out providing such notifications could potentially endanger the lives of law enforcement personnel or the public.
“The act’s disclosure restrictions are wide-reaching and appear aimed at frustrating the federal government’s enforcement of the immigration laws,” Roberts wrote.
However, despite the intervention, the federal government urged the judge to rule on the plaintiff’s non-Constitutional arguments first, as well as the state’s argument Merola does not have standing to bring the lawsuit. A federal judge in Buffalo ruled earlier in November that Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns did not have standing in a similar case because he did not prove he was an injured party.
The DOJ was planning to submit a memorandum in that case but the judge issued her decision before that happened. Merola has also asked for an injunction to delay implementation before December 14.
Kearns on Thursday also said he plans to post the Immigration and Customs Enforcement tipline in his auto bureaus.