Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf revealed to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night that the DHS was immediately suspending several Trusted Traveler Programs—including Global Entry—for all New York state residents, claiming the move was in response to the state’s recent passage of the so-called Green Light Law.
During Wolf’s interview on his primetime Fox News program, Carlson described the New York law—which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses—as a “massive security threat to the rest of the country” since it gives government IDs to “people here illegally.”
Wolf, meanwhile, noted that besides providing IDs to “illegal aliens,” he was extremely concerned that the Green Light Law prohibited the state’s DMVs from sharing criminal records with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
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Wolf went on to insist that the DMV data was imperative to national security and customs, noting that Global Entry and other TTPs need the information in order to assess which individuals are “low risk.”
“I would say that today, we sent a letter to New York indicating because they took these measures, that New York residents no longer are eligible to enroll in these Trusted Traveler Programs,” the acting DHS chief said, confirming to the Fox host that the move would impact everyone in New York.
“They can’t enroll or re-enroll in these Trusted Traveler Programs that Custom and Border Protection offers because we no longer have access to make sure that they meet those program requirements,” he continued. “We need to do our job.”
“Of course. And good for you,” Carlson said. “It’s just that that will be a shock to a lot of New Yorkers but I support that completely. Mr. Secretary, thank you.”
New Yorkers who are now ineligible for these Trusted Traveler Programs won't be able to enjoy expedited processing upon arrival into the United States from international destinations. New York commercial truck drivers leaving or entering the U.S. will also be affected, resulting in longer processing times. TSA PreCheck, however, is one TTP that was not included in the order.
The move by DHS comes a day after the president used his State of the Union address to take aim at New York’s sanctuary laws, specifically blaming them for an elderly woman’s death.
“Just 29 days ago, a criminal alien freed by the Sanctuary City of New York was charged with the brutal rape and murder of a 92-year-old woman,” the president exclaimed in his Tuesday night speech. “The killer had been previously arrested for assault, but under New York's sanctuary policies, he was set free. If the city had honored ICE's detainer request, his victim would be alive today.”
Wolf giving Carlson the exclusive on Homeland Security’s latest immigration policy crackdown makes perfect sense considering the Fox host’s extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric during the Trump era. Carlson has faced a sustained advertiser backlash since claiming in December 2018 that immigrants make America “poorer and dirtier.” In recent weeks, meanwhile, he said rising housing costs are “100 percent an immigration problem” and asserted that the Potomac River had gotten “dirtier and dirtier” due to litter “left almost exclusively by immigrants,” remarks that were condemned by the Potomac Conservancy.
