Past critics of laws allowing illegal migrants to obtain driver’s licenses say they aren’t surprised after a multi-state scheme made hundreds of thousands taking advantage of lowered ID standards.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced sweeping charges against several individuals who were allegedly involved in a conspiracy that fraudulently applied for driver’s licenses for more than 1,000 people, most of whom were living in the United States unlawfully. The alleged scheme involved procuring driver’s licenses in Massachusetts and New York, two states that allow illegal migrants to obtain them, and sell them to illegal migrants living elsewhere in the country. (RELATED: Former Dem Gov Who Cemented California’s Sanctuary Laws Now Says They’ve Gone Too Far)
“I am deeply concerned, but not surprised, by the recent indictment,” Massachusetts House Minority Leader Brad Jones said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The Massachusetts House Republican Caucus warned that the passage of the Work and Family Mobility Act, which opened the door for undocumented migrants to obtain a Massachusetts driver’s license, would have consequences,” Jones continued. “This is an easily anticipated byproduct of the law.”
LUKEVILLE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 06: A U.S. Border Patrol agent instructs immigrants to sit while awaiting transport from the U.S.-Mexico border on December 06, 2023 in Lukeville, Arizona. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Jones and other Massachusetts Republicans strongly opposed Democrat-led legislation allowing foreign nationals living in the U.S. unlawfully to obtain state-issued driver’s licenses. The Democratic supermajorities in both the state House and Senate in 2022 easily overrode a veto by then-GOP Gov. Charlie Baker, who cited identity verification concerns.
The bill passed in Massachusetts was very similar to 2029 legislation ushered in by New York State Democrats. Popularly known as the “Green Light” law, the measure was also incredibly controversial at the time as it allowed individuals in the state to obtain state-issued IDs without a Social Security number, igniting objections from federal authorities in Washington, D.C., and local clerks across New York State alike who voiced security concerns.
Federal prosecutors allege that five individuals made hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling IDs from Massachusetts and New York to illegal migrants who lived in states that actually required proof of citizenship from applicants.
The 23-page indictment details the alleged conspiracy by Edvan Fernandes Alves De Andrade, Leonel Texeiera De Souza Junior, Cesar Agusto Martin Reis and others to provide driver’s licenses from New York State — and later Massachusetts — to illegal migrants, typically charging around $1,400 per license. The scheme often involved taking online learner’s permit tests by using pre-made photos of the customers and then driving to New York DMV locations using documents that fraudulently indicated that the customers lived locally, ultimately resulting in hundreds of IDs being provided to customers.
Prosecutors say the scheme began in New York around November 2020 and then expanded to include the procurement of Massachusetts driver’s licenses around July 2023, the same month the state’s Work and Family Mobility Act went into effect.
When disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed the Green Light bill into law in June 2019, a slate of county clerks initially refused to comply, with some even indicating they didn’t mind going to jail over their objections. Some of those clerks say the alleged scheme revealed by the DOJ should be nothing surprising, given that they adamantly warned about these risks years ago.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 06: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declares a state of emergency Tuesday due to the ongoing violence on July 06, 2021 in New York City.The new declaration by Cuomo will come with millions of dollars for gun and violence prevention programs across the state. The governor also announced that he will be signing a law that bars individuals with active warrants from buying a gun in the state of New York. Over the July 4th holiday weekend, 51 people were shot in New York. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“They lowered the standards,” Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola said to the DCNF, explaining how documentation requirements for New York driver’s licenses were softened because of the law. “There are certain standards you have to meet, those six standards of identification and once we started with this Green Light law, all of a sudden they started lowering the standards.”
“They made it much, much easier for someone to get either a non-driver ID or a permit,” Merola continued. He also expressed concern that the licenses make it much easier for illegal migrants in the state to possibly commit voter fraud, saying “they gave them a nine-digit number because it looked just like a driver’s license.”
Tolerance for unauthorized aliens using driver’s licenses has slowly grown across the U.S., typically in states controlled by the Democratic Party. A total of 19 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that allow illegal migrants to apply for driver’s licenses, according to legislation tracked by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Minnesota was the most recent state to enact such legislation. Gov. Tim Walz, who signed his state’s bill into law in March 2023, claimed at the time that it would enhance public safety.
These jurisdictions will typically grant IDs if applicants can simply provide evidence of current residency in the state and foreign documentation that establishes identity and date of birth. However, critics have long argued that providing driver’s licenses to illegal migrants poses national security risks and raises fraud concerns.
“In reality, the policy is a public safety threat which also may facilitate identity, bank, and voter fraud, as well as the employment of illegal aliens,” the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for stricter immigration laws, said of such laws. “It also allows those breaking the nation’s immigration laws to remain hidden in plain sight, promotes the normalization of illegal aliens, and undermines the rule of law.”
The scheme in Massachusetts and New York resulted in more than 600 customers obtaining bogus licenses, according to prosecutors. In the aftermath of the busted operation, the same New York county clerks who adamantly opposed the Green Light law suggest their concerns have largely been realized.
“When this law was put in place, people like myself, along with law enforcement and immigration enforcement such as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], all stated that this was a potential security threat because they didn’t have immediate access to the information and it also offered a pathway for those looking to commit fraud and to also participate in illegal activity such as this,” Niagara County Clerk Joseph Jastrzemski told the DCNF.
“Although I’m very happy to see that the ring has been broken up, it makes you wonder how many people were able to slip through with similar schemes,” he continued.
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