Governor throws out proposal, enhanced licenses examined
by KEATON T. DEPRIEST Cheektowaga Editor

In the fight to find a low-cost way for citizens to be monitored at border crossings, the Department of Homeland Security may allow U.S. citizens to obtain an enhanced driver's license instead of a passport.

The plan is another alternative to Gov. Eliot Spitzer's earlier proposal to issue licenses to all state residents without regard to immigration status.

After that proposal was opposed by county clerks and many residents of the state, Spitzer decided last week to scrap the plan.

Opponents claimed that giving licenses to all residents, including illegal immigrants, was a hazard to national and state security.

"After serious deliberation and consultation with people I respect on all sides of this issue, I have concluded that New York State cannot successfully address this problem on its own," Spitzer said. "I am announcing that I am withdrawing my proposal."

Although Spitzer's license plan called for everyone to receive a license, it would have also required photograph comparison technology and an investigation unit to detect fraudulent pieces of identification to increase public safety.

During his speech Nov. 14, Spitzer said he hopes the Department of Homeland Security's new plans help to solve the national impact of undocumented immigrants.

"The reality of 14 million undocumented immigrants nationwide and one million in New York isn't going to go away," he said. "So my challenge to the federal government is this: fix it. Fix the problem so the states won't face the local impact."

Erie County Clerk Kathleen Hochul said she was glad Spitzer backed away from the proposal and listened to the concerns of the public.

"Being a border community, this affects us," she said. "We don't need anything to make it more difficult for us."

She said Homeland Security's alternative to everyone requiring a passport to temporarily enter into another country is an enhanced license.

"An enhanced license will take less time for residents to acquire than a passport," Hochul said. "It is a great alternative."

Hochul said the license has a built-in radio frequency chip as an added security measure to track the status of foreign visitors.

"If it's possible, I would like residents of Erie County to be the first to obtain the enhanced licenses," she said.

Hopefully, we could have the expenses paid to get the program up and running so that it does not come from taxpayer money. We would certainly benefit from the program."

She said that in order for the Homeland Security proposal to benefit residents, the price of an enhanced license must be well under the cost of a passport, which is currently at $97.

"We want to make our country safer, but in an intelligent way," Hochul said.

The enhanced licenses should be an option for people, and a price has to be set that makes it worthwhile." e-mail: kdepriest@beenews.com