Newspapers from around the country reported earlier this month that, as per a decree from the White House, New York residents who wanted to apply or renew for Global Entry (as well as other trusted traveler programs such as Nexus and SENTRI) would be denied.
This came about after the state enacted new legislation, informally called the “Green Light Law,” that gave undocumented immigrants the ability to obtain a NY state driver’s license, while also preventing federal agencies (including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for arresting and deporting immigrants, and Customs and Border Protection [CBP], which runs the Global Entry program) access to DMV databases access unless they had a court order.
The current government regime is, of course, saying it’s an issue of national security, but others suggest it’s extortion and political retribution for New York standing up to the current administration’s xenophobia.
Whatever the case, it appears that New York might be just the first of several states with citizens that may not be able to apply for or renew their Global Entry status.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), over 16 states, along with Washington D.C., currently have rules on the books that allow undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license.
Of those, California and New Jersey have upcoming laws (7/21 and 1/1/21, respectively) that will soon prevent federal agencies access to databases that include personal information of undocumented immigrants. Virginia has a law waiting for state senate and governor approval that has similar verbiage; if passed, it will go into effect January 2021. Kansas and Massachusetts have similar bills currently in committee, and since 2018, Washington state has disallowed federal agencies to perform facial recognition scans of the state’s DMV database.
Ken Cuccinelli, the senior official performing the duties of the DHS deputy secretary said in a conference call with reporters that citizens of states considering passing legislation similar to NY’s would also be barred from Global Entry, “and other programs,” should those state laws go into effect.
“…and other programs.” Like TSA PreCheck?
As per Cuccinelli, right now, TSA PreCheck isn’t part of the suspension, but (paraphrased) “that doesn’t mean DHS won’t revoke it down the line.”
Well, isn’t that special?
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
7 comments
You must swear your loyalty to the monarch, in order to get a fast pass…autocracy comes quickly and not so quietly. And, of course, those from the rejected states will undergo strict scrutiny and indoctrination programs to test their loyalty.
This is such a simple concept. If you are a state that won’t share public records information with the US Government they can’t do an accurate background check. States like New York started this issue but refusing to enforce federal immigration controls so it shouldn’t be a shock when you can’t get clearance for GE or TSA Pre. Imagine if you filled out the form but wouldn’t provide any information. That would get you rejected as well. Besides do you really want a “Trusted Traveler” someone that we don’t know if we can trust them? I don’t.
@DaninMCI, with all due respect, New York offered DHS access to the driving records of TTP applicants, negating the ‘lack of access’ claim. Time to update your argument 🙁
It just doesn’t add up that DHS become so disproportionately puckered over not seeing speeding tickets or parking violations of TTP applicants out of New York. With 30+ years in law enforcement, I can tell you their pucker-factor level makes absolutely no sense when you consider a person’s record of serious speeds, misdemeanors, DWIs, felonies, warrants, etc. — all the disqualifying stuff — is already shared among the several states and feds via an FBI criminal history database, separate from the DMV database.
I am perfectly fine with this. When will we wake up and fix out immigrations laws? Every other country on the planet has a rule of law and they enforce it. We should, too.
I don’t agree with the blog that this is xenophobic. The states should not be thwarting ICE and CBP. I honestly don’t understand what the states are thinking with their laws.
I never said that it was xenophobic. I said that it’s been said it was. That doesn’t infer either way if I do or do not agree with it.
FWIW, I see both sides of the issue and am not 100% rooting for either side. In a nutshell though, if ICE wasn’t deporting people left and right, NY probably wouldn’t have felt the need to put this into place in the first place.
…”over 16 states, along with Washington D.C., currently have rules on the books that allow undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license.
Of those, California and New Jersey have upcoming laws (7/21 and 1/1/21, respectively) that will soon prevent federal agencies access to databases that include personal information of undocumented immigrants. Virginia has a law waiting for state senate and governor approval that has similar verbiage; if passed, it will go into effect January 2021. Kansas and Massachusetts have similar bills currently in committee, and since 2018, Washington state has disallowed federal agencies to perform facial recognition scans of the state’s DMV database.”
I say good on them! Should be all 50, thanks to the founders being wise enough to include the 10th Amendment! 🙂
Personally, the premise behind REAL-ID seems like an Orwellian farce to me. Can someone kindly explain how getting a drivers license has any bearing on US citizenship, or vice versa? It’s only a license to drive, not a passport, folks.