New push to let immigrants illegally in NY get driver's licenses

New York should join other states in allowing immigrants in the country illegally to get driver's licenses, supporters of a new campaign said at a rally Friday in Brentwood.

The change would benefit immigrants who want the right to drive and residents who share the roads with them, they said.

"This campaign seeks to improve everyone's life," said Fernando Martínez of Glen Cove, director of the newly formed Driver's License Campaign Project. "This is not only about giving driver's licenses to the undocumented people, but to address a need for all" in a state with more than 900,000 unauthorized immigrants.

If all immigrants obtain licenses, advocates said, more will receive training to drive, obtain insurance that would cover other drivers, and buy and register vehicles locally.

About 120 people attended the rally at Brentwood's Ross Memorial Park.

Barrett Psareas, vice president of the Nassau County Civic Association in Cedarhurst, thinks the driver's license proposal is a bad idea.

"Is an insurance company going to be liable for a flight risk?" Psareas said. "Their actions speak louder than their words. They are in the country undercover and now they say they want to be all hunky-dory. How am I to believe them?"

As of July, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Vermont and Washington offered driver's licenses regardless of immigration status, according to the National Immigration Law Center. The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico do so as well.

The issue has stalled in New York, despite backing in the Democrat-led Assembly. Critics cite opposition to illegal immigration and security concerns.

Assemb. Phil Ramos (D-Brentwood), who attended the rally, said he stands ready to push again for a bill he has co-sponsored that allows for driver's licenses that cannot be used as travel documents.

"We are talking about an issue of humanity" instead of "government trying to create a hardship on people . . . who have committed the crime of love for their family" in coming to America to work, Ramos said.

As the law stands, Ramos added, "If an American has a car accident with somebody who doesn't have a license because the law does not allow him [to], there's no insurance to cover him."

Dunia Medina, 38, a Honduran immigrant in Brentwood, said a license "would be a blessing" because she struggles to go to work, attend English classes and take her three children to medical appointments.

"Right now, you either drive in fear or spend your money in buses and taxis, or have to be asking neighbors for help," Medina said. A license "would make a big difference."