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Homeland Security Lets New Yorkers Back Into Global Entry Program Homeland Security Made False Statements in Fight With N.Y., Officials Admit
(about 3 hours later)
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers will again be able to enroll in Global Entry and similar programs that let travelers speed through borders and airport lines, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. Homeland Security officials made false statements in a bid to justify expelling New York residents from programs that let United States travelers speed through borders and airport lines, federal government lawyers admitted on Thursday.
The announcement came nearly six months after the department barred New York residents from participating in what are officially known as Trusted Traveler programs because of the state’s passage of a law enabling undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. The surprise admission, contained in a court filing, said the inaccuracies “undermine a central argument” in the Trump administration’s case for barring New Yorkers from the programs after the state passed a law enabling undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses.
Federal officials said the New York law endangered national security. Unlike its counterparts in other states, it restricted immigration authorities from gaining access to state Department of Motor Vehicles records without a court order. Federal officials had insisted that New York was an outlier in placing restrictions on immigration authorities from gaining access to state Department of Motor Vehicles records. For that reason, they argued, New York was endangering national security and could not be trusted to participate in Global Entry and related travel programs.
At the time, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo condemned the move to block state residents from the travel programs because of the driver’s license law as “a form of extortion.” But in their filing on Thursday, government lawyers acknowledged that several other states, Washington, D.C., and some U.S. territories also restricted access to motor vehicle information and had not been subject to such a ban.
Against that backdrop, the filing said, “The acting secretary of homeland security has decided to restore New York residents’ access to the Trusted Traveler Programs, effective immediately.”
The filing came in response to lawsuits filed by New York State and the New York Civil Liberties Union over the decision to bar New Yorkers from the program.
“Defendants deeply regret the foregoing inaccurate or misleading statements and apologize to the court and plaintiffs for the need to make these corrections at this late stage in the litigation,” said Audrey Strauss, the acting United States attorney in Manhattan.
The court filing offered an explanation for the Department of Homeland Security’s unexpected announcement on Thursday that it was allowing New Yorkers back into what is officially known as the Trusted Traveler Program.
The announcement came nearly six months after the department barred state residents from Global Entry and other programs because of the state’s passage of the so-called Green Light law.
Unlike its counterparts in other states, the New York law restricted immigration authorities from gaining access to state Department of Motor Vehicles records without a court order.
When the government moved to block state residents from the travel programs because of the driver’s license law, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo condemned the action as “a form of extortion.”
The dispute escalated over the course of a week, until Mr. Cuomo met with President Trump at the White House in February in hopes of working out a compromise.The dispute escalated over the course of a week, until Mr. Cuomo met with President Trump at the White House in February in hopes of working out a compromise.
The agreement that was reached will give the federal authorities access to the motor vehicle records of those applying for trusted-traveler status, paving the way for the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement on Thursday, Mr. Cuomo and federal officials said. The agreement that was reached, which was enshrined in a state budget bill in April, gives the federal authorities access to the motor vehicle records of those applying for trusted-traveler status.
“I am glad that this issue has finally been resolved for all New Yorkers,” the governor said in a statement on Thursday. Mr. Cuomo and federal officials said on Thursday that it was the compromise that had paved the way for the announcement that New Yorkers were being allowed to enroll in the travel programs again.
“I am glad that this issue has finally been resolved for all New Yorkers,” the governor said in a statement.
In his own statement, Chad F. Wolf, the acting Homeland Security secretary, said that “we appreciate the information sharing” that enabled the department “to move forward and begin once again processing New York residents” in Trusted Traveler Programs.In his own statement, Chad F. Wolf, the acting Homeland Security secretary, said that “we appreciate the information sharing” that enabled the department “to move forward and begin once again processing New York residents” in Trusted Traveler Programs.
Nonetheless, Mr. Wolf added, the changes to the driver’s license law, which were made in a budget bill in April, did not satisfy the administration’s concerns about the state’s approach to working with the federal authorities. Neither man mentioned the court filing and the admissions it contained.
“Local New York law continues to maintain provisions that undermine the security of the American people and purport to criminalize information sharing between law enforcement entities,” he said. Benjamin Weiser contributed reporting.
It was not immediately clear why the department’s announcement on reopening the travel programs to New Yorkers came more than three months after the state changed the driver’s license law.