GOP dissension on licenses for illegal immigrants
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- September
- 25
 There seems to be some serious difference of opinion among Senate Republicans about whether Gov. Eliot Spitzer has done the right thing in allowing illegal immigrants to get drivers’ licenses.
 While Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno gave the idea a tepid endorsement Monday, today two of his colleagues blasted the plan.
 “The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, of which New York was at the epicenter, taught us that we must be vigilant in order to keep our state and country safe,’’ aid Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie. “The simple precaution of requiring a Social Security number to prove one’s legal status in this country is a common-sense way of helping prevent terrorists from obtainingone of the most routinely accepted forms of identification used in this country.’’
    Bruno said he didn’t think it made sense to deprive those illegal aliens here of a document they need to live a normal life. But he said the country needs to crack down on letting any more in.
 Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, Putnam County, who is also against the idea, said he is considering holding hearings or suing the governor.
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on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 5:32 pm by Jay Gallagher.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
