The acting Homeland Security secretary has sent a department-wide memo requesting a review on how state laws that allow undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses affect its enforcement efforts, the Associated Press reports. Acting Secretary Chad Wolf's memo—which referred to laws in New York, New Jersey, and other states—also requests that the review examine how the laws affect the Department of Homeland Security's activities in human trafficking, drug smuggling, and counterterrorism. In addition to providing immigrants with licenses, the state laws prohibit Department of Motor Vehicles officials from providing data to immigration enforcement agencies unless a judge orders it. In his memo, Wolf directed his department to survey what information the DMV has already provided and what security consequences exist without DMV data.
DHS spokeswoman Heather Swift claimed the state laws made it “easier for terrorists and criminals to obtain fraudulent documents.” This comes after an initiative from White House policy adviser Stephen Miller led the Department of Health and Human Services and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share data in order to target certain adults for deportation.
Read it at Associated Press
