In an unprecedented move on Wednesday night, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf revealed on Tucker Carlson Tonight that his department is suspending enrollment in Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs (TTP) for all residents of New York state, effective immediately.
The decision comes in response to New York’s Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to apply for and receive driver’s licenses and prohibits the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles from sharing criminal records with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“In New York alone, last year ICE arrested 149 child predators, identified or rescued 105 victims of exploitation and human trafficking, arrested 230 gang members, and seized 6,487 pounds of illegal narcotics, including fentanyl and opioids,” Wolf wrote in a letter to New York state officials. “In the vast majority of these cases, ICE relied on New York DMV records to fulfill its mission.”
The state, meanwhile, is reviewing its legal options in response to the move, insisting that it’s simply a political tactic. “This is obviously political retaliation by the federal government, and we’re going to review our legal options,” Rich Azzopardi, a senior aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, told CNN.
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