In a line that was already snaking through the ​wheelchair ramp hours before the Goshen DMV even opened on Monday, mother of three Lilian Mujiva and a group of her friends laughed and cheered, telling Spectrum News they felt "emocionado y frio" (excited and cold) about finally being able to apply for driver's licenses under New York's Green Light Law.

"To me, it helps a lot," Mujiva said in Spanish with a shining smile. "It will let me take my children to doctor's appointments, take them to the hospital, and take them to school. It's very important for me because I can drive places with my kids."

As she listed the benefits a driver's license could bring to her and her family, she almost left out the benefit that immigrants have regularly mentioned to Spectrum News in coverage of the bill and its passage.

"For my work too, it's important," she said. "Around here, you need to be able to get to a good job, especially when you have kids."

 

Community Organizer Ignacio Acevedo of the immigrant advocacy group 'The Best Immigrant Footprints' led chants among the group of about 100 outside on the wheelchair ramp and received all new applicants at the entrance to ask if they needed help with their applications.

"We're looking to fill the most basic needs that every resident of Orange County needs," he said.

Acevedo repeatedly called Monday morning an "historic moment." Still, he is aware that many locals are angry about the bill's passage, and a few of them were nearby on Monday.

Passers-by who oppose the Green Light Law did not loudly protest, but some quietly indicated their disapproval.

"Where's ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)?" asked one woman as she looked at a crowd and shook her head.

"I think it's unfair that certain people should be able to get a license," one man said on his way out. "When you're undocumented, you're undocumented."

Those sentiments give Acevedo pause.

"Because of everything that's going on around the country, I was scared to come here today," he said. "Being an immigrant and being a leader in my community, I thought to myself, 'Am I going to get shot?' "

Several applicants told Spectrum News they are not completely worry-free either, in part, because ICE officers work out of an office at the Orange County Correctional Facility, also located in Goshen. They said they would rather go to one of the DMVs in Newburgh or Middletown, where most of the county's immigrants live.

In between catchy chants, Acevedo announced important information about the locations.

"Tell all of your relatives that Goshen is the only place that is issuing these [licenses]," he yelled to the group in Spanish. "But, hopefully soon, they're going to begin issuing them in Middletown and Newburgh."

Orange County Clerk Annie Rabbitt said Orange County's other DMVs located in Middletown, Newburgh and Port Jervis will begin accepting license applications from undocumented residents once those offices receive the proper foreign document scanners from the state.

On Thursday, a representative for District 104 Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson of Newburgh said Jacobson had recently learned that the devices used to verify foreign IDs and passports were "on order" for the county's other three DMV locations, and in a few weeks, once the technology is in place, those offices would begin issuing the licenses.

Other Hudson Valley DMVs were experiencing similar crowds and delays on Monday.

Dutchess County Clerk Bradford Kendall announced via email on Monday afternoon that beginning on Tuesday, DMVs in Dutchess County will only accept license applications from Dutchess County residents. An employee at the clerk's office said the change was an effort to reduce crowd sizes going forward.