Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner calls for immigrants to have right to licenses

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner on Monday announced her support for a campaign that calls for all qualified drivers to have licenses, regardless of immigration status. The campaign is called “Green Light NY: Driving Together” and is pushing for legislation in the state government.

“This effort makes sense for the City of Syracuse and the entire state, enabling more than 800,000 New Yorkers to come out of the shadows and have legal, safe access to drivers licenses,” Miner said in a press release. “Now is the time for New York to join the ranks of a dozen other states and territories to implement licenses for everyone regardless of immigration status.”

The campaign was officially launched last week in Albany. It seeks to “increase access to reliable transportation for thousands of working New Yorkers.”

Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, applauded Miner’s support for the campaign, calling her a “true visionary” because of her support of immigrants.

“Mayor Miner recognizes providing drivers licenses are the right thing to do for immigrants, from the newcomers who run 18% of Syracuse’s ‘Main Street’ businesses to farm workers who keep local farms running,” Choi said in the release. “In fact, all Syracuse residents will benefit from this initiative, through fuller tax coffers, a stronger economy and lower insurance premiums.”

Yovani Bravo, a member of the Workers Center of Central New York, in the press release called it unfair that immigrants don’t have access to licenses and said the campaign will show “how many of us are fighting for that right.”

“It is very important for us to have a driver’s license so we can get to our work safely and we can respond to emergencies; when a cop stops you, that is the first thing they ask you, and when we don’t show it, we can get into trouble,” Bravo said.