New York joins other states in suit over federal attempt to seize millions of drivers' personal data

 New York’s top prosecutor is again taking the Trump administration to court, this time over what she says is an attempt to illegally seize millions of drivers’ personal data.

Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced New York would be joining 21 other states and the District of Columbia in lawsuits aiming to block the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security from accessing a database containing the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of 117 million commercial drivers across the nation, including nearly 500,000 in New York. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — a federal agency overseeing trucking safety — in June ordered the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit consortium of vehicle licensing and registration agencies, to turn over the database, which is owned by states and used to verify commercial drivers’ qualifications.

According to the lawsuits, federal officials said they were seeking the database as part of their "ongoing efforts to ensure the integrity and issuance" of commercial driver's licenses and "to fulfill its federal safety and regulatory obligations."

The Trump administration "threatened to eliminate all federal funding for the system unless the records are turned over by August 17," according to James’ office.

Federal Department of Transportation officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

James and her fellow plaintiffs maintain that the federal government has no legal authority to seize states’ confidential driver records and are asking a federal court to block the Trump administration’s order and preserve federal funding for the AAMVA.

"The Trump administration is attempting to seize confidential state records without any lawful justification," James said in a statement. "New Yorkers provide their personal information to the state with the expectation that it will be protected, not handed over to anyone who demands it." 

James has repeatedly brought litigation against President Donald Trump and his administration in recent years, including a suit alleging Trump committed fraud by inflating the value of real estate assets and a lawsuit challenging the legality of the White House's attempts to cut federal security funding for the state.

The newest lawsuits suggest the Trump administration's demand for the database is tied to its targeting of immigrant commercial drivers. After a federal DOT directive, New York's Department of Motor Vehicles last year discontinued a program that allowed commercial driver's licenses to be issued to "non-domiciled" applicants. 

According to the lawsuits, the federal subpoena seeking the database was titled "Immigration Enforcement Subpoena."

The database exists "to keep dangerous drivers from being licensed to operate 18-wheelers, school buses, and other commercial motor vehicles," the plaintiffs wrote in one lawsuit. "It is not and never was intended for immigration enforcement."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.