The change is a direct response to the Green Light law which took effect in December. It allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses and blocks federal immigration officials including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officials from accessing motor vehicle records.
"The Trusted Traveler Program has nothing to do with who receives a New York State license because the licenses that are going to people, if they're not a citizen of the United States, it says 'Not for federal purposes' literally on it," Hochul continued. "There's no connection - they are not eligible for the NEXUS Program; they are not eligible for Trusted Traveler Programs, so this is a farce."
"This is unbounded arrogance disrespect of the rule of law, hyper-political government, and this is another form of extortion," said Cuomo. "This is what Trump did with Ukraine; this is now the ethos of his federal government.
"What (Ken) Cuccinelli (Principal Deputy Director of the USCIS) now says is, 'If you have that Green Light Law, we are not going to allow New Yorkers to sign up for their Global Entry Program'...which is where you can get pre-clearance to come in through the borders or at an airport."
State Assemblyman Pat Burke was never in support of the Green Light Law, but he is completely displeased with the optics of this decision.
"I think the Green Light Bill creates a series of problems that complicates things, but that's not what this is," Burke said. "This is an aggressive administration creating a political problem for their benefit and targeting New Yorkers.
"We are looking at our legal options; it will have to end up in court," she said. "We have to protect our economy here in New York State, particularly here in Western New York. Why they're trying to punish businesses and people trying to go back and forth across the border to help our livelihood and our economy here - this is shameful and it has to stop."