Senate Bill S7745

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7745

SPONSOR: JACOBS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to allowing the
federal government access to certain department of motor vehicles infor-
mation for the purposes of reviewing applications for federal programs,
federal law enforcement, national security and used car exports; and to
repeal certain provisions of such law related thereto

 
PURPOSE:

To amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to allowing the feder-
al government access to certain department of motor vehicles information
for the purposes of reviewing applications for federal programs, federal
law enforcement, national security and used car exports; and to repeal
certain provisions of such related thereto.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

              

Section 1 of the bill repeals subdivision 12 of section 201 of the vehi-
cle and traffic law, which prevents the commissioner of the department
of motor vehicles from disclosing information or records to a federal
agency that primarily enforces immigration law; and adds new subdivi-
sions 12 and 13 to the statute. New subdivision 12 would require the
commissioner of the department of motor vehicles to provide any
requested documentation to a federal agency that primarily enforces
immigration law, including United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement and United States Customs and Border Protection, related to
the review of an individual's application to a federal program or to an
investigation of person for a federal law enforcement or national secu-
rity issue. New subdivision 13 would require the commissioner of the
department of motor vehicles to provide any requested documentation to a
federal agency related to the approval of a motor vehicle for exporta-
tion.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date; immediately upon being
signed in to law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In the 2019 Legislative Session, the Governor and Legislature took
unprecedented action in passing and enacting the Driver's License Access
and Privacy Act (Chapter 37, 2019). This controversial piece of legis-
lation, more commonly referred to as the "Green Light Bill" passed both
houses of the State Legislature by narrow margins and with strong oppo-
sition. The bill, which took effect December 16, 2019, enables individ-
uals that reside in the United States of America illegally, to obtain
valid New York State Driver Licenses. The decision to reward driving
privileges to undocumented residents led to numerous lawsuits and
remains highly unpopular with many New Yorkers. Yet, the "Green Light
Law" went beyond providing driver licenses to individuals that live in
the United States illegally; it also prevents the Commissioner of the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) from providing crucial information to
federal agencies that enforce immigration law and are responsible for
keeping our country secure. It is the primary duty of federal agencies
under the supervision of the United States Department of Homeland Secu-
rity (DHS), agencies including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to keep our country and
US citizens safe and protected from criminal and terroristic threats
from abroad.

Because components of the Green Light Law bar DMV compliance with
requests from federal agencies, the US Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) recently notified the Acting and Executive Deputy Commissioners of
DMV that effective immediately, New York residents will no longer be
eligible to enroll or re-enroll in any U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler Program (TTP). DHS took this action
because Section 201 of Vehicle and Traffic Law explicitly prevents the
sharing of critically important information with federal agencies absent
a court order, judicial warrant, or subpoena. Banning access to individ-
uals' information means that agencies like CBP and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) are no longer able to ensure that New York
residents who apply for TTP membership, actually meet the necessary
eligibility requirements.

Trusted Traveler Programs such as Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI and Free
And Secure Travel (FAST) all assist U.S. citizens with expedited proc-
essing at border crossings into the United States. Those that meet the
requisite high standards and demonstrate a low-risk for criminal activ-
ity necessary for TTP membership, benefit from the faster, more effi-
cient and more convenient means by which they are allowed to travel into
our country. Individuals that travel frequently, including New Yorkers
that live in close proximity to our Nation's border with Canada, appre-
ciate the ease by which they are allowed to travel. Unfortunately, for
thousands of New Yorkers, traveling to neighboring countries will soon
become much more difficult and time consuming due to provisions of the
Green Light Law.

The statutory bar to sharing information with federal agencies not only
presents risks to the integrity and of TTP, but also makes it much more
difficult for the hard working employees of DHS agencies to keep Ameri-
cans safe. Border agents must deal with more difficult and time-consum-
ing challenges in validating the proper identity of individuals and
vehicles that enter the US, due to a lack of cooperation with DMV.
According to DHS, ICE arrested 149 child predators, identified or
rescued 105 victims of exploitation and human trafficking, and arrested
in 230 gang members in New York State, in 2019 alone. ICE also seized
6,487 pounds of narcotics including deadly opioids and fentanyl. In
making, these arrests that help protect law abiding New Yorkers, ICE
relied heavily upon the NYS DMV records. Sadly, it is now much more
difficult to access such DMV information without acquiring a court
order, judicial warrant or subpoena through onerous and inconvenient
processes. Thus, the ability for immigration and border agents to
protect American citizens, particularly New York residents, has been
made a much greater challenge.

In addition, CBP is responsible for validating titles and other docu-
ments needed to establish ownership of motor vehicles prior to exporta-
tion to other nations. The process by which CBP validates proper owner-
ship of vehicles registered in New York State has been complicated by
the bar to sharing requested information under the Green Light Law,
Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 201. These complications are certain to
cause costly and lengthy delays in the exportation of vehicles to other
countries like Canada and Mexico.

New York's legislature should be acting to improve, rather than frus-
trate, communications and the sharing of information with those agencies
that work diligently to keep Americans safe. This bill would require
that the Commissioner of DMV to comply with any reasonable request from
a federal agency that is responsible for immigration and border security
pursuant to an individual's application to a federal program, or to any
investigation related to law enforcement or national security. This
legislation simply mandates DMV cooperation with federal agencies, as
needed to provide New Yorkers with continued access to the many benefits
of Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) membership and to assist in keeping
our Nation's borders protected and secure.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.