Erie County Comptroller Stefan I. Mychajliw, Jr. has identified an outrageous provision in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) new budget. Last year, the New York legislature passed a measure called the Green Light Law, which allows illegal immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. The law was amended in April for the 2020 budget to note that a law enforcement officer who shares DMV records with another law enforcement agency such as ICE or DHS can be arrested and charged with an E Felony.
More outcry over Gov Cuomo sneaking into the budget, under the cloak of COVID-19, to charge POLICE with a felony for sharing info about illegals with fellow law enforcement. It’s wrong to put the lives & rights of illegal immigrants over law enforcement https://t.co/lvn2MebAFl
— Stefan Mychajliw (@StefanMychajliw) May 26, 2020
"What has the governor lost his mind?" asked radio host Sandy Beach as he read the news to his listeners.
New York lawmakers are similarly fuming over the law, which they argue was snuck into the budget while the state is distracted by the coronavirus outbreak.
“Border Patrol for example, working the highway in the middle of the night and pulls over a vehicle, they can’t run the plates to determine who owns that vehicle,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York J.P. Kennedy said. “I think it’s legislating obstruction and it’s very concerning to me.”
Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, who was one of the New York officials to sue Gov. Cuomo for the Green Light Law last year, said the above provision is shocking.
“This is shocking this is unheard of and especially during a pandemic that someone, the Governor, who is under so much pressure thought about that to put that in there,” Kearns reacted. “We just had I think it was 29 people law enforcement people in the State of New York that just died from COVID, and they’re criminals now?”
“They basically criminalize police work in this budget,” he added.
Although Kearns's lawsuit was struck down in November, he pledged to get the DOJ's attention. He also told illegal immigrants in New York that he had no intention of following the governor's guidance.
"Don't get in your car, don't come," Kearns said. "Because I will not be issuing a driver's license to any illegal immigrants.
Gov. Cuomo can't afford many more missteps. He's already under extreme scrutiny for his mandate that forced nursing home facilities to accept COVID-19 positive patients, which seemingly resulted in thousands of deaths.