Part of the 2019 push for the Green Light Law (photo via New York Immigration Coalition),
By Stephen Louis
On September 21, 2007, New York Governor Elliot Spitzer and Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts announced administrative changes that would allow applications for driver licenses without regard to immigration status. After a long and winding road, undocumented immigrants began to legally obtain driver’s licenses in New York in 2019, after the “Green Light Law” was passed by the State Legislature and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. But it now faces a new challenge. On February 12, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued New York State in U.S. District Court in Albany, seeking a permanent injunction barring further implementation of the law based on its provisions that limit federal access to information regarding undocumented license holders.
What is the Green Light Law?
The Green Light Law, more formally the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, Chapter 37 of the Laws of 2019, was enacted on June 17, 2019, taking effect on December 16 of that year. It amended various sections of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
The law, which allows undocumented immigrants to apply for and obtain driver’s licenses from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), only applies to standard driver’s licenses1. It does not apply to REAL ID or Enhanced driver’s licenses1 or to commercial driver’s licenses or to non-driver ID cards issued by DMV.
The law allows undocumented immigrants to apply by changing the requirements for documentary proof of identity. First, it eliminated the requirement that the applicant have a social security number (SSN). Instead, those without a social security number may submit a signed affidavit that they have not been issued an SSN. Second, it expanded the types of identification documents that could be submitted — including a foreign passport or consular identification document issued by the applicant’s country of citizenship or a foreign driver’s license that includes the applicant’s photo.
The law also added new restrictions on the DMV’s disclosure of personal information and documents submitted in connection with license applications, and restrictions on the release of records to agencies primarily enforcing immigration law (meaning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE). Records may be shared only if there is a lawful court order or judicial warrant signed by a judge. If the DMV receives a lawful request for records, it must, within three days of the request, inform the individual whose records are sought of the request.
Origins of the Green Light Law and Political Controversies
The effort to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses originated as a response to actions by New York State that were not directly related to immigrant status. Prior to 1995, applicants for driver’s licenses in New York were simply required to furnish proof of identity as dictated by the DMV.
In 1995, state law was amended to require applicants to provide a social security number upon application. This was actually part of a set of reforms to the state’s social service laws – this identifying information could be used to locate persons who owed child support payments. Subsequently, persons who did not have social security numbers but were ineligible to obtain them were allowed to apply for driver’s licenses. However, in 2002, the Pataki administration, in response to the 9/11 attacks, implemented for the first time a requirement that applicants for licenses who did not have social security numbers get a formal letter from the Social Security Administration stating their ineligibility for a SSN. That action made it impossible for undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses, since they would neither have a social security number nor be able to get the letter from SSA.
Under Governor Spitzer’s initial proposal in 2007, which was a fulfillment of a campaign promise, social security number requirements would be dropped, and driver’s license applicants would be allowed to prove identification with foreign passports without demonstrating legal status in this country. The move was condemned by Republicans in the State Legislature, who sought legislation to block the proposal, and by others, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. Most county clerks, who in counties in New York north of Westchester County act as DMV officials on behalf of the state, did not want to comply with the new standards. Perhaps the most prominent county clerk to oppose the measure was then-Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul, later Governor4.
Later in 2007, Governor Spitzer’s efforts became an issue in the race for the Democratic nomination for President, largely due to the initial muddled response by former New York Senator Hillary Clinton to questions about it. At a debate on October 30, Clinton seemingly supported the Spitzer initiative but upon further questioning by moderator Tim Russert and rival candidate Chris Dodd, she seemed to water down her support. A day later she issued a statement clearly supporting the proposal but for some the damage was done. Barack Obama, who clearly endorsed the plan at the debate, got the nomination. By mid-November, Governor Spitzer dropped his plan out of concerns over political opposition and legal challenges, and the opposition of so many county clerks.
The effort stalled for nearly a decade. In 2016, activists began a strong push to get legislation passed. It gained support from many more elected officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate-turned-Attorney General Letitia James, and several New York City district attorneys. In 2018, Governor Cuomo, running for reelection, endorsed such legislation, and his new running-mate for Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul, reversed her opposition and supported the proposal.
Justification for the legislation focused less on rights of the undocumented as on benefits to the state as a whole, grounded in public safety and local economic benefits. First, by allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses, they would have the opportunity to learn to drive safely and get auto insurance, benefitting both themselves and others on the road. Second, securing driving privileges for all residents of New York, including undocumented immigrants, would ensure a sufficient number of potential workers for sectors with labor shortages.5
The State Legislature passed the bill in 2019; the vote in the State Senate was close – 33 in favor and 29 opposed. Governor Cuomo signed the bill into law that same day, June 17, 2019, with the law taking effect six months later.6
Litigation by County Clerks
Litigation was initiated in separate cases by the County Clerks of Erie County7 and Rensselaer County after the law passed and before its effective date. Both claimants said that the Green Light Law conflicted with federal immigration law. Both challenges were dismissed on lack of standing and capacity grounds.
Litigation by DOJ
Prior to the lawsuit initiated this year, there were several indications that the Trump Administration would oppose at least some aspects of the legislation.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security barred New Yorkers from enrolling in federal “secure traveler” programs such as PreCheck due to its inability to check DMV records of applicants. The issue was resolved when New York, via the budget process, created an exception to federal access to DMV records to allow “secure traveler” checks for applicants to that program.
On January 10, 2025, just before President Trump again took office, some Republicans, led by New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, along with some local law enforcement officials and county clerks, held a press conference condemning the Green Light Law, bringing it back before the public eye. Ortt indicated he would seek legislation to repeal those provisions that shield DMV records from federal immigration authorities, although such legislation would be a non-starter in the Democratic controlled State Legislature. Also in early January, Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming “border czar,” expressed similar concerns – even threatening to bar cars with New York plates from entering the country.
On February 12, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint in the Northern District of New York, against the State of New York, seeking a determination that the Green Light Law is violative of the Supremacy Clause by being in conflict with federal law, and seeking an injunction barring the State from continued implementation of the law. The case was assigned to Judge Anne Nardacci.
The focus of the lawsuit is on the provisions that limit the sharing of DMV information with federal immigration authorities and that require the DMV to inform those whose information is sought by those authorities, what DOJ refers to as a “tip-off provision.” The complaint argues that federal immigration law – 8 U.S.C. section 1373 – preempts state and local laws that restrict sharing of immigration status information with federal authorities, and that New York cannot create obstacles to federal laws or regulate or discriminate against federal immigration authorities.8
On March 25, the New York Attorney General’s office, representing the State, responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint. New York argues that there is no preemption — that the Green Light Law regulates a matter of traditional state interest, that the information held by the DMV does not include information specifically related to immigration status, and that section 1373 in fact does not preempt state laws. Further, the State argues that the provisions protecting the information held by DMV are consistent with the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act, and do not regulate or discriminate against federal authorities, but rather govern the behavior of DMV officials with respect to information held by them.
Further briefs were submitted by DOJ and the New York Attorney General on April 26 and May 9, respectively, and the matter is now pending before Judge Nardacci.
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Stephen Louis is Distinguished Fellow and Counsel for the Center for New York City and State Law at New York Law School.
1 REAL ID and Enhanced driver’s licenses meet federal standards of identification and are required for travel on domestic air flights for those without a passport (standard driver’s licenses not acceptable). This requirement, originally to take effect in 2008, has been postponed many times over the past several years but was finally made effective on May 7, 2025.
2 SSA will issue letters of ineligibility to lawfully admitted aliens (who thus would be able to obtain licenses) but not to undocumented aliens. Undocumented workers are not eligible for SSNs. Instead, undocumented workers who should pay taxes can get individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN) so they can file tax returns.
3 At that time, Republicans controlled the State Senate; the Democrats the Assembly.
4 David Swarts had been Erie County Clerk until Governor Spitzer made him the head of DMV, in charge of implementing the new licensing program. Governor Spitzer then appointed Deputy County Clerk Kathy Hochul to take Swarts’ place as County Clerk.
5 According to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute based on data from 2019, the year the law passed, it was estimated that there were over 500,000 undocumented employees in New York State. A report issued by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer in 2017, prior to the law’s passage, estimated that up to 150,000 undocumented persons in New York City alone would be eligible for a driver’s license if permitted to obtain one
6 While Governor Cuomo did sign the bill into law the same day it passed the Legislature, he did express some last minute concerns about whether the federal government would ultimately be able to access the data, and asked for an opinion from the New York Attorney General’s Office assuring that the data would be safe. While Attorney General Letitia James did not guarantee that the data could not be accessed by the federal government, she did provide sufficient assurance as to the law’s protections for the Governor to then sign the bill.
7 As noted above, by then the County Clerk was no longer Kathy Hochul.
8 While the DOJ seeks the striking of the entire Green Light Law, it does not advance any arguments against the basic provisions permitting those who are undocumented immigrants from getting licenses. Presumably, even if the protections regarding access to information were to be struck down, the underlying provisions could theoretically remain in place.