NY Gov. Spitzer Relents: No Licenses for Undocumented

The N.Y Times reports that Gov. Eliot Spitzer is abandoning his plan to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, saying that opposition is just too overwhelming to move forward with such a policy. The governor is to announce the move formally today. “You have perhaps seen me struggle with it because I thought we had a principled decision, and it’s not necessarily easy to back away from trying to move a debate forward,” he said. But he came to believe the proposal would ultimately be blocked, he said, either by legal challenges, a vote by the Legislature to deny financing for the Department of Motor Vehicles or a refusal by upstate county clerks to carry it out.

UPDATE:  A news story, with link to a video news report, on the Govenor’s decision can be found here.

KJ