New Yorkers Will No Longer Be Able to Apply for Global Entry, DHS Says

Alison Fox
·2 min read

The Department of Homeland Security said it will no longer accept applications from New Yorkers to programs like Global Entry, citing the state’s law that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver’s license, according a letter from DHS.

On Wednesday, Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, sent a letter stating that New Yorkers would no longer be able to apply for programs like Global Entry, which make getting through customs a much faster and streamlined process, because of the “Green Light Law.” The letter mentions programs like Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI, but does not mention the Transportation Security Administration's PreCheck program.

The “Green Light Law” allows people in New York to apply for a driver's license using an expanded list of documents, including foreign passports and foreign driver's licenses, according to CNN. The law also requires that records can’t be turned over “to any agency that primarily enforces immigration law” without a court order or warrant or unless required for federal ID purposes.

The ban of applications comes as the Trump administration has gone after New York City’s so-called “sanctuary city” designation and policy not to honor every ICE detainer request. On Tuesday, during his State of the Union address, Trump took aim at the city by talking about the attack of a 92-year-old woman by an immigrant man.

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“Although DHS would prefer to continue our long-standing cooperative relationship with New York on a variety of these critical homeland security initiatives, this [law] and the corresponding lack of security cooperation from the New York DMV requires DHS to take immediate action to ensure DHS' s efforts to protect the Homeland are not compromised,” Wolf wrote in the letter addressed to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, which was posted by The New York Times.

Wolf stated on Fox News on Wednesday, that New Yorkers as a whole can’t enroll or re-enroll in Trusted Traveler Programs “because we no longer have access to make sure that they meet those program requirements, so we need to do our job."

The law was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June and went into effect in December. Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, told The New York Times that the directive was “obviously political retaliation by the federal government, and we’re going to review our legal options.”