Tong Defends Immigrant Driver’s Licenses
Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong led a coalition of 14 states today, authoring an amicus brief defending the right of states to keep their roads safe by issuing driver’s licenses to residents regardless of federal immigration status. The case involves a challenge to New York’s Green Light Law by Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns. New York’s law, passed last June, authorizes the issuance of driver’s licenses to state residents without regard to immigration status. The partisan challenge wrongly claims that federal immigration law preempts New York’s state authority to issue those licenses. The brief, filed by states that similarly offer licenses regardless of immigration status, argues that issuing and regulating personal driving credentials is a traditional and effective exercise of…