EDITORIAL
The cry for Green-light licenses for all
help
COURIER L 40 IFE, JUNE 14–20, 2019 M BR B G
New York granted driver’s
licenses to undocumented
immigrants
up until the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks.
Then-Gov. George Pataki,
in the wake of the disaster,
instituted new rules that
mandated that drivers have
a Social Security number to
request or maintain their licenses.
After years of struggling
to restore the benefi t to undocumented
New Yorkers,
the fi rst “green light” is fi -
nally visible on a road full of
stops.
This week, the Green
Light NY bill that would
grant driver’s licenses to undocumented
residents was
approved by the Assembly,
but the legislation has yet to
be ratifi ed by the Senate to
become law.
The fate of around 265,000
undocumented New Yorkers
hangs in the balance, but
that’s apparently not enough
to motivate the leaders of
this legislative chamber.
Although Senate Deputy
Majority Leader Michael Gianaris
has said he supports
the bill, the Democratic-led
Senate continues to refuse to
bring the bill to a vote. Immigrant
advocacy groups have
asked Gianaris to use his
power to convince the State
Senate to commit to passing
the Driver’s Licenses and
Privacy Act.
The legislative chamber
ends session in the middle of
this month, and that worries
immigrants who depend on
a car to commute to work or
school.
With or without this legislation,
undocumented immigrants
are driving. Why
not ensure that they have licenses
to boost the economy
while making roads safer?
Legislators have an obligation
to do what is in the
best interest of public safety
and ensure that all drivers
have a driver’s license in
the state, so that each driver
is trained, certifi ed, registered,
inspected and insured.
This would mean that
thousands of immigrants
living in the shadows can
take their children to school,
go to medical appointments
and drive to their jobs without
fear that a routine police
traffi c stop can put them on
the road to deportation.
It’s time for the Senate to
act. Call Gianaris’ offi ce at
(718) 728-0960 and tell him to
get this done.
The New York Police Department
suffered two
shocking suicides in
as many days last week in
Brooklyn and Queens.
Assistant Chief Steven
Silks, a 38-year member of
the NYPD, took his own life
on a Forest Hills street on
June 5; he was mere days
from a mandatory retirement
from the force.
The next day in Brooklyn,
Detective Joseph Calabrese
of the Brooklyn South Homicide
Squad also killed himself.
According to reports, it
happened a few hours after
his wife had been hospitalized
for a condition.
Some of us think of our
fi rst responders as reallife
heroes there to protect
us against the bad guys. Of
course, the reality is that police
offi cers are humans, not
comic book characters. They
grapple with both the everyday
issues life brings us, but
they are compounded by issues
unique to their job.
They have seen crime
scene horrors no one should
see. They deal with highpressure
situations that
could threaten someone’s
life, or even their own. Some
have dealt with the trauma
of a close colleague being
killed in the line of duty,
while others have made
tragic decisions that cannot
be reversed.
We urge our police offi
cers who are struggling
with their mental health
to seek the care they need.
Don’t throw your families
into undue suffering. It can
get better.