A dozen years ago, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer tried to grant undocumented immigrants drivers licenses through executive action. The plan blew up in his face, with many county clerks refusing to issue the documents, and the backlash inadvertently hitting Hillary Clinton's presidential primary campaign to boot.
It's time to try again, to make roads across the state a safer, fairer place for all.
In the five boroughs of New York City, a person can largely get to and from school, work, the supermarket, the hospital and so on without an automobile. Not so in most of the rest of the state, where the only way to get anywhere is by car.
Which means undocumented men and women are already driving in large numbers; it only makes sense for them to prove who they are, certify they know how to obey the rules of the road _ and get insured. Since California approved undocumented licenses in 2015, leading to about a million licenses in the hands of people who had no access to them, hit-and-runs dropped by as much as 10 percent in areas with heavy immigrant populations. Accident victims saved millions in out-of-pocket expenses.
There's also this fortuitous reality: Since Spitzer's ill-fated attempt, the federal government has mandated that all states eventually adopt Real ID driver's license, a super-secure card, for domestic air travel. Forget about that for this purpose; New York's limited "standard" license could give undocumented drivers the ability to legally operate a vehicle and purchase insurance.
And that's all. A special marking would prevent use of the card for voting, proving a right to work or obtaining other benefits.
A dozen states, including bright-red Utah, allow undocumented limited licenses.
We don't claim this will be an easy vote; the scars from Spitzer's try have yet to fully heal. But put both hands on the wheel and drive.
