Former Mayor Ed Koch – joining a chorus of opposition to Gov. Spitzer‘s plan to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses – warned yesterday that the move could make it easier for a repeat of 9/11.
“The governor is enhancing the possibility that a terrorist would use a New York driver’s license to board a plane in the U.S.,” Koch wrote of his fellow Democrat in a weekly opinion column.
“I am opposed to that for all of the reasons that flow from the terrorist act of 9/11,” he added.
Koch, who supported Spitzer for governor, joins other Democrats, including Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a host of Republicans and conservatives as well as a number of upstate county clerks who run the local DMV offices in opposing the Spitzer plan.
Mayor Bloomberg also recently expressed concern while top Democrats like Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer have refused to publicly take a position.
Some Democrats, including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, as well as labor unions and the New York Civil Liberties Union have come out in support of the plan, which could impact hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens.
Spitzer recently announced that the Department of Motor Vehicles will no longer require applicants to provide Social Security numbers or letters showing they are not eligible for such a number in order to qualify for licenses.
Instead, applicants can provide foreign passports and other forms of ID.
In a speech yesterday at Fordham University titled “Beyond the Politics of Fear,” Spitzer ripped critics for linking illegal immigrants to terrorists and argued his plan would actually improve homeland security.
“What has happened is that the politics of fear and selfishness has replaced the politics of common sense and mutual responsibility,” Spitzer said.
“At all levels of government we are witnessing knee-jerk reactions to sound policies that have no business being politicized by fear-mongering rhetoric,” he added.
By allowing illegal aliens to obtain drivers’ licenses, public records will be created on people who have operated in the shadows, he said.
Additional reporting by David Seifman