A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security reached out following last week’s article regarding the New York Global Entry application ban for residents. I offer my own clarifications as well.
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Last Week’s Post on the Ban
Last week I posted that the Department of Homeland Security was right to block new applications for Global Entry for New York residents. The state intentionally obscured DMV database records, requiring the DHS to secure a warrant for any person they wanted to evaluate further. The state of New York acted within their rights to restrict access and the DHS responded within their rights to disallow new applicants to the program.
The driver for change in New York was to shield undocumented migrants from entities like the CBP and ICE who may deport migrants if found to be without documentation.
DHS Responds
I received an email from the Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs for the DHS, Heather Swift, regarding the post. I reached out to clarify some aspects but was unable to connect with her. Here are the highlights of the note she sent:
“We had to restrict TTPs like Global Entry because we are not able to properly vet individuals without access to specific DMV information.”
I had also stated in my post that if the DHS enforces this ban in New York state, they need to do so in the 12 other Sanctuary cities/states. She addressed this specifically,
“New York is the ONLY state that specifically bans the DMV from sharing any and all information with CBP and ICE. The California law gives drivers licenses to illegal aliens and restricts the sharing of immigration status, but not other info.”
Lastly, I referenced a quote used in the Wall Street Journal article from the previous week which they had collected in December. It conflated a couple of issues.
- “DHS law enforcement investigates a whole range of criminal activity, including terrorism, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.
- Imagine if a law enforcement officer is staking out a known location where children are sexually exploited, and that officer is not able to run a license plate on a car that frequents that house.
- Or, think of the Customs and Border Protection agent who is sitting in her booth at the US-Canada border and encounters a traveler who looks like the photo on the BOLO poster. She is unable to run a check on his NY driver’s license or check on his plates to verify his identity.
- We rely on the information in DMV databases for information to build out cases, identify criminal suspects, and enhance officer safety.”
My Clarifications
I mentioned in the last post that I doubted that pedophiles, child pornographers, human traffickers and terrorists were applying for Global Entry, I also noted that if the DHS can’t check everyone to ensure they are approvable for the program than they can approve no one. Ms. Swift’s note highlights that point.
There was also some misunderstanding on my part of the intricacies of the “green light” laws that provide identification elsewhere, but only New York restricts access to the database. That’s a failure on my part and explains why places like California were kept out of the ban.
The DHS response does clarify the reason for needing the information and when reviewing the Global Entry requirements, applicants would be determined to be ineligible if they “Are the subject of an ongoing investigation by any federal, state or local law enforcement agency.” That doesn’t mean charges are filed, but as Swift pointed out, may link with some of their information such as their identity or license plate.
If I had been able to connect with Ms. Swift I would have asked what the DHS does when a traveler is not a driver and thus has no DMV records as one commenter raised?
Final Thoughts
Had New York declared the state a Sanctuary but not restricted access to the DHS for criminal records, I don’t believe this action would have been taken. I also believe that it’s politically-motivated on both sides of the issue. New York is making the state a safe haven for undocumented migrants who may face deportation or prosecution and the DHS can’t evaluate applicants without ensuring they qualify for the program. Her note reinforces the position of the DHS on this matter being the correct decision and their inaction elsewhere corroborates those statements.
What do you think? Given the response from the DHS do you agree that they were right to stop new applicants and renewal from the Trusted Traveler Programs? Do you think the “persons without a license” issue still causes problems for their logic?
A state willfully ignores federal law, and you say in another post that the POTUS is acting like someone from a banana republic? Libs like in NY picking and choosing laws they want to follow, and who they want to prosecute, is truly banana republic stuff.
Leftist logic is beyond twisted. Criminals are now the victims. Police are the bad guys. Enforcing laws is criminal. CO2 is evil and will destroy us all, unless of course the elites need to fly private to lecture people not to fly. Productive people are corrupt and exploiting the unproductive. China govt (and Iran) is noble and righteous. Christianity is evil, but Islam, the most anti woman and anti gay religion ever, is sacrosanct. Examples of leftists lack of logic and extreme hypocrisy are endless. You have truly jumped the shark.
@ WR2, Ever hear of “State’s rights” as defined in the constitution?? In many cases, state laws supercede federal regulations (note, I said “regulations”, which may not be the same as a federal law/statute)
Nope. These republicans care about state rights only when it comes to red states. Remember the howing they did when obama wanted to expand medicaid as part of Obamacare. These jerks have no problem letting people die to save some money. But the hypocrites forget state rights when it’s their own pet policies.
A person as an individual should be able to opt out of the protection and become verified at will.
Opt-out of what protection?
The federal government has a legal right and responsibility to guard and protect our federal borders. The left doesn’t like this fact, because they deal in emotions, not facts.
Remember, leftism wants to have open borders with no limits on illegals entering our country. It wants globalism and the destruction of countries.
Do they want this because they care about the downtrodden? Of course not. They don’t give a [redacted by admin] about them. What they care about is power. Power at any cost. Even if it means destroying the country.
Leftism/progressivism is a cancer. It is growing in this country.
Yeah. Except as people have said it’s not the state’s responsibility to make the v federal government’s job easier. Clearly red states don’t do it when it’s a democrat in the house. Anyway my head hurts taking too a Republican. They are thick as stones.
But you are right liberals should represent their constituency instead of trying to save the v world. You can’t deport all that living here illegally. Are you going to pay for deporting 14 million illegal? Instead legalize them. Make them pay taxes end give them health insurance and drugs license. They have to pay a fine first. Maybe $5000. And they can never become US citizens. I don’t think either Democrats or Republicans want a solution. This is a great wedge issue that they can keep playing to keep getting elected.
Power at any cost? Ironic coming from someone who clearly has TWS.
so many strawmen. Where to even start? Nobody said Iran or China are noble and righteous, or that Christianity or Islam are sacrosanct (who said that? Certainly not anybody who cares about women’s rights), or that CO2 is evil (it’s CO2 emmissions and specifically the amount of them that’s at issue), that police are the bad guys (not police, but police brutality is the problem, which has to do with rules governing police conduct, not the police officers themselves), or that Criminals are victims, something that nobody said ever. On the contrary, I often hear that victims should be treated fairly (in rape cases for example). I don’t even though where this statement would come from.
As for following the law, there are crimes and there are misdemeanors and ethical lapses — and in regards to NY state following federal law, they are actually — they are not required legally to let the DHS access the DMV database, so they don’t. It is not against the law. It is not the responsibility of a state to do the federal government’s job of enforcing immigration laws.
As far as the criminality of illegal aliens is concerned, it’s weird that I don’t see anybody up in arms about the hundreds of thousands Irish illegal aliens living on the east coast…. some of whom are known to have connections to the IRA, a known terrorist organization. mmmhh… I wonder why.
WR2 sounds just like the Trump base these days – no college education, lower income, Southern, rural, and just a healthy enough docs of racism
@UA-NYC
I am a urban, non-Southern, University educated, minority who agrees with the general sentiment (if not all the details) of WR2.
I’m tired of people twisting things and pretending their hands are clean. This is something everyone does, but in my experience people on the Left (not liberals) do a lot more.
One way they do this is by twisting words in a deceptive way. For example 20 years, people who opposed abortion were called Pro-Life, while people who supported a woman’s right to choose were Pro-Choice. Now however, the Pro-Life side is regularly denigrated by media as Anti-choice or Anti-abortion, names given to them and whichh they did not choose for themselves.
Imagine if Pro-choice supporters were called Anti-life or Pro-death by the media on a regular basis. What an uproar that would bring. That would be very deceptive and even evil – insinuating that Pro-choice people hate life or love killing babies.
But that’s what the Left do all the time to conservatives.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/06/men-abortion-debate/591259/
Do you know what death taxes are? They are estate taxes paid by estate of deceased. Do you know who came up with that term? Or why?
Do you even think Bernie is socialist? anyone asking for living wage is compared to soviet union or Venezuela. There is a large spectrum from an extreme of communism to asking for living wage and healthcare and everyone gets painted by the same brush.
Anti abortion people do depict pro choice people as killing babies. all this heartbeat laws and allowing fetuses with human features is what exactly? It’s attempt to show pro choice as anti life.
You don’t know sh$t but have made firm opinions based on what? I think both sides are bad. Don’t act like one side is the victim here.
Do you support Trump? Because the person I called out does.
“Many fine people on both sides” – don’t ever forget.
I hate New York and those elites who live there.
I’m very happy that New Yorkers got shafted.
It serves them right.
I hope they take PreCheck away from them, too!
I agree! F. those snotty Bloomberg-esque New Yorkers!!
I’m happy they now have to stand in line and wait!
GOOD!
What about States rights?? You sound like a Trumper, what NY, CA and other Democratic States need to start doing, is stop sending Federal monies to support those southern poor, racist, “taker” States (as Trumper like to call it), lets see how long they survive….
State rights is a great point, but this is a federal program. Much like states legalizing, decriminalizing or medicinally allowing marijuana which counter federal statutes, the federal government has more or less stayed out of it except for federal facilities like airports and crossing state lines.
What? This is precisely the issue – a case of State’s rights to manage its IDs vs the Feds right to police our borders. Targeting global entry and saying they cannot vet applicants properly is simply retribution, as evidenced by the Presidents tweet that New York must stop unnecessary lawsuits (for his taxes) as the first line when talking about this issue. This has been New York law for a year and if NY weren’t suing for the President’s tax returns, they would not have been targeted. Aside from that, if you need more proof, the NY governor already offered full access to the database for everyone who applies for Global Entry. This would all be moot if this actually had anything to do with vetting global entry applicants, who by the way, also have to have a passport. Something many don’t know is that passport can be from several other countries, including Argentina, Mexico, and India. Do we really trust the vetting process and access to information in those countries more than our own national crime databases?
I agree. Stop sending income tax to federal government.
The blue states pay more taxes and the v red states receive more benefits. Talk about socialism. Republicans are the first to get handouts.
I think your comments make you sound nearly as racist as the Trump losers
This spin will convince only those who lack basic skills of critical analytical thinking. Does Global Entry require more extreme vetting that a green card or US citizenship? Of course, not. Yet, DHS keeps issuing green cards and granting citizenship to thousands of New Yorkers, day after day after the law went into effect. So, DHS has access to any records they may ever need to properly vet a New Yorker, plain and simple.
I’m trying to determine if you’re being willfully ignorant of the fact that this is just a cheap political stunt to pressure the state to stop trying to access tax returns or if you really believe this stuff.
He is willfully ignorant, but he’s also a right-winger. Usually goes hand in hand.
Lol. Commenters on the Bernie post earlier today have me down as a “left-winger” for not condemning the killing of republicans, on this post I’m a “right-winger.”
Any chance that these are just news items with analysis that don’t pertain to my personal political leanings?
Analysis usually involves engaging with actual facts, not copying-and-pasting talking points. So, no, no analysis here, Kyle.
Oh, you missed last week’s post because I forgot to link it. Here it is: http://bitly.com/320rnQ5
Oh, I did read the original post. No facts there either, unfortunately, just some talking points followed by an unsupported conclusion. When an airline calls its devaluation “enhancement”, I suspect you don’t just blindly copy and paste their talking points. I hope you carefully compare the old and the new chart and see for yourself if these talking points make sense. Same thing here: DHS has been unable to identify a single piece of information in the exclusive possession of the DMV that they might need to process a global entry application that is not required for a citizenship application. Yet, no problems with citizenship application in New York. Unlike Global Entry, citizenship is much harder to revoke when a mistake is made. The only conclusion on these facts: the new law is just a pretext for this decision. Whether the decision is good or bad policy is a secondary question.
@John, very good point. But you shouldn’t take what Kyle writes too seriously. He actually thought (and wrote in an earlier post) that Pelosi would become vice president if anything ever happened to Trump. Even after the first response questioning this, he maintained his position. Meanwhile, it would have taken about 30 seconds to google the facts.
You misunderstand me. I couldn’t care less where you stand on the political spectrum, I’m just against massively abusing an elected office for blatant personal gain. That goes for any elected official, whatever their political affiliation. A crook is a crook.
Let’s all be honest with each other, Kyle. The reason you (and Matt, and OMAAT, and TPG, and VFTW) post these kind of articles isn’t their news value. It’s to generate clicks, and attract people like “debit” to set off a s*itshow in the comments that then sets off a cycle of more clicks. You’re a smart guy – you full well know that if you write about DHS/sanctuary city laws and Bernie Sanders, it’s going to be taken as political, regardless of how neutral you attempt to stay. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here, because you don’t usually do this, but your Trump comment on the other post sure comes off as intentionally throwing gasoline on the fire just to generate more traffic.
I’ll grant you this topic at least has some actual news value to your readers. TWO posts on Bernie sitting in F is pushing it. (And yes, I’m guilty for clicking, even though I try very hard not to encourage clickbait. here or elsewhere.) I’ll at least give Matt credit for admitting the clickbait is here to generate $ to help you guys earn a living. That’s more than I can say for your competitors.
Frankly Sriram, I thought we had better rapport than that. All of the blogs ran the story that the DHS stopped allowing New York residents to register for Global Entry, and plenty suggested it was politically-motivated. My point last week was that it may have been politically-motivated, but that doesn’t make it wrong; if they can’t do their job then that makes the Trusted Traveler Programs unsafe. When the DHS spokeswoman emailed me regarding this clarifying some things I had not fully understood (because they hadn’t come across in other stories and because I didn’t understand the specific difference in the case of New York) I thought it would be relevant to the readership.
With regards to the Bernie Sanders post from today, many outlets were suggesting that the Senator was “caught” sitting in first and implied this voided his Democratic Sociality sensibilities. I note the reasons why he shouldn’t get thrown out with the bathwater simply because he had a slightly larger seat at the front of the plane. I thought I was part of the resistance alongside you in putting something out there that wasn’t the same as everyone else.
By definition, it’s not clickbait. But if you view it as such you might be comforted to know that my Alaska Mileage Plan post garnered twice as many views as the two you mentioned combined. Further, I won’t feel guilty or ashamed for trying to write something different than what the rest of our world posts. Would it have been more suitable to replace these posts with a review of a hotel you may never want to stay in or yet another review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred? Is that better? I don’t think so, and I won’t review my hundredth E-175 first-class seat on United this week to avoid topics that could be controversial.
We should call you Cassandra, as you speak the truth while few listen. Well said.
People have a choice to vote with their brain or with their [redacted by admin]. New Yorkers made their choice on how they voted so now that take the consequences.
New Yorkers are the most miserable nasty obnoxious entitled bunch on the planet. I live in South Florida, I should know. And they drive like s**t too. That fact alone should disqualify them from Global Entry and any type of entry. In fact, I am delighted it happened. I can’t wait to see these wonderful, patient New Yorkers waiting in very long lines. It will be an amazing sight.
@John
“Yet, DHS keeps issuing green cards and granting citizenship to thousands of New Yorkers, day after day after the law went into effect.” Very good point John. Maybe DHS will reconsider this practice as well. I will point this is out to them.
If DHS didn’t have a solid legal case, Cuomo (Fredo’s brother) wouldn’t have run with his tail between his legs to see Trump to cut a deal.
New York? Remember that movie Escape from New York? Yeah. That. President Trump needs to hurry up on the southern border and get started on walling in NYC.
Let me guess – you are a Trump Worshipper who actually thinks Trump is getting the wall built? And that Mexico is actually paying for it? LOL on both accounts.
You all are getting conned by Agent Orange but don’t have the brainpower to realize it.
What the hell does “reached out” mean in this context? You mean “responded” or “contacted me” or “emailed”…? But no, we have to suffer this ludicrous, theatrical “reach out’ nonsense, with the implication that this is a deeply meaningful issue, of enormous consequence or significance…rather than someone sending a response via email.
To be clear: no one “reached out” here. You write very well…please don’t persist in using this vile phrase, favoured though it is by some of the less literate members of the blogging fraternity. It’s retch out material.
I was born in New York and am a lifelong resident of New York State. For the record, I do not support the Green Light Law and understand DHS’s position on why the ban from the Trusted Traveler Program was put into place. However, like thousands of New Yorkers, my husband (also a native New Yorker who has lived here his entire life) and I were about to go on our interviews for Global Entry when the program was pulled through no fault of our own. We’ve lost $200 in the process. The best way to deal with this situation is to allow Trusted Traveler applicants to consent to having their DMV records fully searched. According to the law, the subject of the DMV record can have access, so why not permit a designee such as DHS or ICE to have access? I would gladly have signed a release and waiver for this purpose. Is either Cuomo or Trump willing to allow this exception?
Yesterday received this is an email about my 11 year old son Global Journeys application which had been approved, we just needed to go to do the picture. I have Global Journeys. I’m an American citizen. I was born here and so was my son. He has an American passport. This is BS, so he is now denied because of this ignorance. Why should he be affected by this. He doesn’t have a licence.
You do not meet the program eligibility requirements because you have listed the state of New York as your current residence. At this time, CBP is unable to verify certain information connected to your application.