Opinion

TAKE A U-TURN, ELIOT

With every passing day, it seems, more and more New Yorkers are expressing outrage over Gov. Spitzer‘s plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.

At public events across the state for the past week, we hear, folks have been scratching their heads over the plan – and then complaining loudly to elected officials, regardless of political party.

Yesterday, on these pages, Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco called on Spitzer and the state Department of Motor Vehicles to scrap the plan – or face legal action and the prospect of a new law to block it.

Also this week, the Conservative Party unveiled a powerful new ad contrasting U.S. policy along the Mexican border (where illegals are arrested) with Spitzer’s plan to grant them licenses.

All this on top of a mini-revolt by county clerks, who oversee license approvals; many say they’ll defy the plan.

Even Spitzer’s fellow Democrats – like Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, former Mayor Ed Koch and Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand – have voiced concerns about the plan. (As have Mayor Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others.)

What do all these New Yorkers fear?

Maybe another 9/11-style attack: Indeed, in both attacks on the World Trade Center – in 1993 and on 9/11 – terrorists relied on the use of driver’s licenses.

In all, the 9/11 hijackers accumulated 63 licenses from across the country. These were used to attend flight school, rent safe houses and board the planes without showing passports.

Let’s be clear: There’s nothing wrong with legal immigrants getting driver’s licenses. This state was built on the hard work of waves of newcomers, and New Yorkers should be the last ones to deny those who come here legally and work toward citizenship the rights and benefits they deserve.

But after 9/11, safety comes first.

Since then, New York sensibly began checking license applicants’ Social Security numbers against the federal database. Within months, more than 100,000 stolen numbers were identified. Congress later ordered every state to adopt proof-of-citizenship requirements by 2009.

Yet Spitzer wants to move in the opposite direction.

What’s motivating him?

Who knows?

Maybe he wants to distract voters from the various probes of his office’s Dirty Tricks campaign against Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Maybe he’s looking to find a way to expand his electoral support by making it easier for illegal foreigners to vote.

Clearly, Spitzer has sought to create a nurturing environment for those who break the law – if only by residing in New York illegally.

Last month, for example, he announced that New York would provide free chemotherapy to illegals, despite a federal directive prohibiting states from seeking federal reimbursement.

Meanwhile, the Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that New York pays out some $4.5 billion more on behalf of illegals than it collects from the tax revenue they generate. (The outlays go to cover the costs of health care, education and incarceration.)

Again, policies that lure foreigners may be smart for New York – which loses tens of thousands of its own residents every year to lower-tax, higher-opportunity states.

But after 9/11, upholding a legal process – one that can help weed out terrorists – is vital.

Spitzer may care more about garnering votes or changing the subject than about protecting New Yorkers.

But given the public outcry over his license plan, there are strong grounds for him to reverse course, pronto. Here’s hoping he does – for whatever reason.