Visa Data to Be Included on New York Driver’s Licenses Again

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: New York Times

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Published: October 31, 2007

ALBANY, Oct. 30 — The state will revive the practice of putting visa expiration dates on foreign visitors’ driver’s licenses as part of a deal between the Spitzer administration and the Department of Homeland Security, an official said on Tuesday. The official, David J. Swarts, the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, discussed the change when he was asked about licenses for immigrants after a demonstration of new facial-recognition and document-scanning technology that his agency will adopt in the coming months to root out fraud in and duplication of driver’s licenses.

The change follows Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s announcement last weekend that he was revising his much-criticized plan that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain the same licenses as citizens. The state will now move to a new three-tier driver’s license system that complies with forthcoming federal security rules.

Immigrants’ supporters and some lawmakers were already critical of Mr. Spitzer’s deal with federal officials, saying that New York should offer only one kind of license to all residents, legal or not. Though the reinstatement of the temporary-visitor stamp will only last through the end of next year, Mr. Spitzer’s latest decision drew further anger.

“This is like giving away the store,” said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

The expiration dates were originally noted on drivers’ licenses under a policy instituted under former governor George E. Pataki in 2004, when the Department of Motor Vehicles began putting “temporary visitor” marks on licenses issued to individuals with temporary visas, along with the date that those visas expired. Immigrants’ advocates criticized the policy, saying that it encouraged discrimination even against legal immigrants and led to confusion about whether the licenses themselves were valid....

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/nyregion/31license.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

1. "forthcoming federal security rules."

anyone know what these rules are?

Can someone supply a link for these forthcoming rules?

Sorry but I can't even think of what to Google for.