Contact: Ignacio Acevedo, Lead Organizer, Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson
June 12, 2018
845-481-0703 or Ignacio@nobodyleavesmidhudson.org
Newburgh NY — On Monday, the Newburgh City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of bill A10273/S08680 before the New York State legislature, which would expand access to driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.
New York currently requires residents to have a social security number in order to obtain a driver’s license. Currently, 12 states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont and Washington — and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted laws to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.
The legislative effort to expand driver’s licenses to all New Yorkers is being led by the statewide Green Light NY: Driving Together coalition, of which local organization Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson is a key leader.
In response to Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson’s organizing, the city of Poughkeepsie has already passed a resolution in support of the bill, and in response to other Green Light Coalition members the city of Hudson and villages of Ossining, Port Chester, Irvington, and Mamaroneck all previously passed resolutions in support of the legislation. Green Light has also made the legislation a core issue in the Democratic primary of the New York Governor’s race, with progressive challenger Cynthia Nixon making driver’s license expansion to undocumented New Yorkers a campaign plank and Governor Andrew Cuomo not having backed the legislation.
“Undocumented immigrants upstate are forced to take the risk of driving without a license every day. Driver’s licenses will make it easier for immigrants to pick up prescriptions, get their children to school, and go to work,” said Ignacio Acevedo, Lead Organizer at Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson. “Equal access to driver’s licenses will also benefit all New Yorkers by growing the economy, lowering insurance costs, and increasing road safety.”
