ALBANY – Groups representing current and former border patrol officers yesterday became the latest law-enforcement organizations to urge Gov. Spitzer to scrap his plan to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.
T.J. Bonner, president of the 12,000-member National Border Patrol Council, dismissed Spitzer’s recently revised plan to offer three different kinds of licenses, including one that would be available to illegal immigrants and two others that would be federally recognized.
“We’re not comforted by his latest proposal,” Bonner told The Post. “Why not have just one secure license?”
Bonner said border officers oppose the notion of rewarding illegal behavior, “primarily because it poses such a severe risk to our homeland security.”
He said it also encourages people to break the law, will make New York a magnet for illegal aliens, and not only increases the workload of border-patrol agents, but “demoralizes us to see such a large state like New York waving the white flag.”
Meanwhile, the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers also called on Spitzer to “reconsider this appalling proposal.”
Also, the D.C.-based group Judicial Watch said it is suing Spitzer on behalf of a Suffolk man, arguing that the policy would violate state laws requiring applicants to provide a Social Security number.