A New York judge, appointed by President Biden, has dismissed the Trump administration's legal challenge against the Green Light law, which permits individuals without legal proof of eligibility to obtain driver's licenses.
The Department of Justice initiated a lawsuit in February, targeting Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James as defendants. During a news conference announcing the lawsuit, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi criticized the prioritization of "illegal aliens over American citizens."
According to The Post Millennial, the lawsuit described the law as a "frontal assault on the federal immigration laws, and the federal authorities that administer them." It highlighted a provision mandating the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to notify illegal aliens when a federal immigration agency requests their information.
Anne M. Nardacci, a U.S. District Judge in Albany, New York, concluded that the administration did not substantiate claims that the state law overstepped federal law or unlawfully regulated or discriminated against the federal government. Nardacci emphasized that her role was not to assess the policy's desirability but to determine if the arguments demonstrated a violation of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, which prioritizes federal laws over state laws. She stated that the administration "failed to state such a claim."
In response, James issued a statement affirming, "As I said from the start, our laws protect the rights of New Yorkers and keep our communities safe," and "I will always stand up for New Yorkers and the rule of law." The New York law permits individuals without a valid Social Security number to provide alternative forms of identification, such as passports and driver's licenses from other countries, although it excludes commercial driver's licenses. Applicants are still required to obtain a permit and pass a road test.
This development comes amid numerous incidents involving illegal aliens, some under ICE detainers, being implicated in fatal vehicle accidents. In a recent case, an illegal immigrant in Idaho faced charges for causing the deaths of three individuals in a California truck crash.
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