By MARINA VILLENEUVE Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Bundled in winter jackets, immigrants lined up at some Department of Motor Vehicle offices throughout New York as the state began issuing driver's licenses Monday that don't require applicants to prove they are in the country legally.
Hundreds of New Yorkers waited outside motor vehicle agencies in New York City, while several upstate clerks said they saw few applicants. License applicants without a valid Social Security number can now submit multiple alternative forms of ID that includes valid passports and driver's licenses issued in other countries. State DMV officials said they adjusted staffing levels and updated their reservation system in anticipation of such large crowds Monday.
"This is a major step forward for all New Yorkers as we keep building New York to live up to its full potential of equity, opportunity, and justice," said state Sen. Luis Sepúlveda last week. "We also look forward to the significant economic and safety benefits the law will bring to communities across our state."
At least one county clerk in upstate New York opposed to the law said he was turning away applicants. Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, one of several clerks who has sued to block New York's law said his office had turned away an applicant who wanted a driver's permit but lacked a social security number.
"I was pretty adamant that I was going to have a tough time doing it out of my office," Merola said. "That might have discouraged people coming to my office."
The Republican clerk said his office directed the applicant across the Hudson River to the state-run Department of Motor Vehicles offices in Albany.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has said any clerks who do not want to follow state law should resign.
"Local officials, including county clerks who run DMV offices, cannot choose which laws they like and which they will disregard,"said Department of Motor Vehicles Spokeswoman Lisa Koumjian. "If a clerk is unwilling to follow State law, he or she should resign their office."
New York now accepts documents such as foreign passports, permanent resident cards, foreign driver's licenses and border crossing cards from driver's license applicants.
Merola and several other clerks have claimed their staff lack the training and equipment to verify foreign documents and properly comply with the law. Merola said only three out of 17 of his employees have had time to watch a one-hour webinar provided by the DMV this month.
Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns, a Democrat who ran on the Republican line, said that his employees took applications from about 10 individuals Monday. He said he directed his employees to refer applications to his office so that he can authenticate and verify them. "We haven't processed any paperwork but we're not turning anyone away," he said.
Cuomo's administration said they have provided county and state DMV staff with devices to authenticate documents, and provided hands-on-training when they installed devices. A spokeswoman said the state DMV also provided two training sessions, training materials and two online webinars.
"The law applies to only one license transaction and the DMV is not creating a new license or overhauling the current process," Koumjian said.
Immigration advocates have said they're ready to go to court to defend the law.
"We are grateful to the state for providing DMV staff and county clerks the training, equipment and resources they need to ensure the smooth implementation of Greenlight NY," New York Immigration Coalition NYIC Executive Director Steve Choi said.
Lawmakers in June made New York the 13th state to authorize licenses for drivers without legal immigration status. New Jersey lawmakers passed a similar bill Monday.
An estimated 265,000 immigrants without legal documents are expected to get driver's licenses within three years, more than half of them in New York City, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
Applicants must still get a permit and pass a road test to qualify for a "standard driver's license," which cannot be used for federal purposes like an enhanced driver's license or Real ID.
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This story has been corrected to show that the new law doesn't require applicants to prove they are in the country legally, not illegally.
Immigration Legal Services At CSU
Editor’s Note: Twenty-two CSU campuses are offering immigration legal services for the school’s thousands of undocumented students, as well as its undocumented employees.
California State University (CSU) announced a systemwide plan for the provision of immigration legal services for CSU students and employees. “I am delighted that we will be able to increase the availability of immigration legal services to the California State University community. We remain committed to ensuring that all CSU students have the opportunity to pursue their higher education goals regardless of their country of origin. This inclusive foundation extends to our employees, who demonstrate their dedication to student achievement and success on a daily basis,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White. “These thousands of Californians are pursuing their dreams for a better future every day on CSU campuses. The expanded services and resources that will soon be available will bring support, legal guidance and some peace of mind to enable our students and employees to focus on academic and professional pursuits.”
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Hispanic National Bar Association
Jennifer Salinas, Esq. asked a room full of high school students interested in the law to close their eyes and conjure up the image of a lawyer. “Then I said to them, ‘I suspect that many of you saw a white man.’ They all (nodded) their heads yes,” she says. “We hope to change that so you see people of all different races and ethnicities.” For the duration of her presidency at the Hispanic National Bar Association, which wrapped on September 28, Salinas offered programs, held symposia and ran campaigns, all in the name of attracting more Hispanics to the profession to which she’s dedicated her life. One of those campaigns challenged Hispanic youth to imagine a different type of lawyer. It was called This is What a Lawyer Looks Like. “(We) would wear T-shirts that actually had that on the front. We’d go into heavily populated Latino schools and these kids were amazed. They’d say, ‘You’re a lawyer? You don’t look like a lawyer.’ And that’s kind of the point,” says Salinas. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, law is one of the least racially diverse professions in the nation. Hispanics comprise just 4.8% of U.S. lawyers, and Latinas are less than 2% of that.
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A Voice At The Table
In 1850, Jose Angel Navarro graduated as the first Latino alumnus of Harvard Law School. According to historian Dr. Daniel Coquillette, author of “On the Battlefield of Merit: Harvard Law School, the First Century,” Navarro returned to San Antonio after graduation and advocated for the downtrodden and exploited in Texas. He served on the San Antonio City Council, as a district attorney and city attorney in Laredo and, at 29, was elected to the Texas Legislature. He is widely credited with removing the word “white” from the new Texas Constitution’s voting requirements. In 1876, he was gunned down on Laredo’s main street. Coquillette cites how Navarro died a martyr’s death and deserves broad recognition and honor.
Trailblazing Influence
Giving Navaro that recognition and honor is exactly what current Latino alumni had in mind when they started contemplating a group gift to Harvard Law School (HLS). Every five years, an all-classes reunion known as the HLS “Celebration of Latino Alumni” (CLA) is held. Members organize the self-funded, 4-day event on campus. “Alumni had been talking about doing something for Latino students,” says Ricardo Anzaldua, JD ‘90, who served as a CLA chair.
The Dangers of Being ‘Under the Influence’
Imagine that you’re young and pregnant and more than a little anxious about the changes you are experiencing. And then “morning sickness” rears its ugly head. Looking for advice, you have a few choices: consult your Doctor, seek out an online Doctor for help, or see what Kim Kardashian says on Instagram and Twitter. As ridiculous as it sounds, Kim Kardashian was the “expert” of choice for many 18- to 24-year-olds. When she endorsed the Duchesnay Inc., drug Diclegis (used for morning sickness) online nearly a half of million people “liked” it. Kardashian is one of high profile “influencers” Big Pharma and other companies are recruiting to push their products. Product endorsements via social media by YouTube and celebrity influencers, the term used for social media product advocates, have always been powerful in the direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription and over-the-counter drugs. But social media has changed the rules of the road. While TV and print advertising is heavily regulated and must include risk factors and side effects, the same restrictions, which companies find onerous, are not yet in place for social media influencers. But the times, they are changing.
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The Gift Of Cancer
Imagine finding a job where you not only earned more than enough to take care of yourself and your family, but also found success and fulfillment while bringing joy to others. Now imagine suddenly being diagnosed with a disease that even if you survive it could take away your ability to do that job. This is what faced voice actor Rob Paulsen when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Known for his work on such series as “Animaniacs,” “Pinky and the Brain,” and two of the TV incarnations of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Paulsen’s resume includes such top studios as Disney and Warner Bros., such legends as Steven Spielberg and Mel Brooks, and such accolades a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. To an outsider, his career looked like it was hitting a new high with the probable reboot of “Animaniacs” on the horizon. But as he talks about in his book “Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life,” a small lump on his throat turned out to be stage III squamous cell carcinoma with occult primary, and the treatments for it could permanently damage his voice. “The irony of me getting throat cancer was inescapable,” Paulsen writes.
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