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Driver's License Debate Continues

By Sharon Osorio

July 9, 2010 Updated Oct 15, 2007 at 6:56 PM EDT

Governor Eliot Spitzer says his policy-change that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses needs to vote or approval to become reality. But his plan is fueling controversy in both political parties.
Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul, who was appointed by Spitzer but is against the rule, has a card up her sleeve if the policy does go into effect this December.
She says she'll follow the state rule by allowing illegals to apply for a license without the use of a social security card.
But if they do, she'll call the sheriff's office, and the illegal immigrants might end up getting kicked out of the country.
Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard is on-board with the plan. He says he'll send his deputies, or call police who are close to the suburban DMV sites, to bring the illegal immigrant in for questioning.
"It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me that if a person is in the country illegally we would allow them to legally operate a motor vehicle in a country that they shouldn't even be in legally," says Sheriff Howard.
Spitzer says his plan would make New York and the United States safer by keeping track of people who have already snuck into the country. He says that's a reality we cannot ignore.

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