Virtue signaling can carry a cost

[Valin]

Power Line

Paul Mirengoff

February 7, 2020

Last night on our Power Line VIP program, Steve noted that the Department of Homeland Security plans to deny the privileges of its Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs to New Yorkers. The Global Entry program enables American citizens and permanent residents who travel abroad to avoid long customs lines when they return to the U.S.

As I understand it, to determine who qualifies as a “trusted traveler,” the DHS relies on various government data including information related to driver’s licenses. It uses such information as criminal history and fugitive warrants, as well as corroboration of address and physical characteristics.

New York, having declared itself a sanctuary state, allows illegal immigrants, who do not have social security numbers, to obtain valid state driver’s licenses. It also bars the state from sharing with federal immigration authorities data relating to driver’s licenses.

By doing so, it restricts DHS’s ability to properly vet would-be trusted travelers. Hence the move to bar New Yorkers from the Global Entry program — a move, the rationale for which applies to other states with similar sanctuary laws.

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