The Justice Department's lawsuit against New York officials that takes aim at a "green light law" allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses is a step that has been needed for years, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Thursday.
"This is something that I've been fighting for years, going back to when I was a member of the state legislature," Malliotakis told "Wake Up America." "This law passed in 2019, and I highlighted a number of issues with it."
Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters Wednesday the lawsuit has been brought against New York officials over alleged failures in enforcing federal immigration law.
The lawsuit names New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and the state's Department of Motor Vehicles head Mark Schroeder.
Malliotakis said the "green light law" has several problems.
"First of all, the governor's idea that a Customs and Border Protection agent at our northern border would have to get a judicial warrant if they wanted to scan plates of a vehicle on the New York side is ludicrous," Malliotakis said. "If they're trying to catch a suspect of a crime, if they're trying to do an investigation, oftentimes that DMV database is really helpful in these investigations."
In addition, tens of thousands of people in the United States illegally and who are in New York City have committed crimes, but the government is allowing them to have state-issued identifications, according to Malliotakis.
"Number three, we've seen crimes committed by illegal immigrants," the congresswoman said. "So why are we giving people in the country illegally, illegally these driver's licenses and more importantly, a government-issued ID?"
The green light law also allows for automatic voter registration, allowing applications for licenses to also be used for voter registration unless the person opts out, she said.
"So now you're counting on these individuals to understand that application to maybe they not they don't speak English well," Malliotakis said. "They didn't understand what they're what they're signing."
Malliotakis is a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit to stop noncitizens from voting in New York City.
"We won in court twice at the state Supreme Court in the Appellate Division, and just this week, we went to the Court of Appeals because New York City Council," she said. "Democrats, they seem to not care about using your tax dollars to continue to fight this and insist that noncitizens should be eligible to vote in our elections.
Malliotakis added that those involved in the also expect to win in the highest court in the state, even though Hochul has made gains by "changing the bench around."
"We believe that we will win because we're winning on merit, and we have solid legal ground here," she said.
Malliotakis also commented on reports claiming New York City Mayor Eric Adams could run as a Republican in the next mayoral race and said she does not think her party would be interested in that happening.
"He has embraced sanctuary cities," she said. "He's the one who used our tax dollars to put up illegal immigrants in luxury hotel rooms, and then and then hit us with the bill. He's the one that increases the property tax levy year after year. He has said nothing about New York City's congestion tax that has been imposed on us by Gov. Hochul."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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