The representative for New York’s 23rd Congressional District visited Albany earlier this week to stand with his Republican colleagues to shine a light on the dangers of the Green Light Law.

On Thursday during his weekly conference call with regional media, Tom Reed, R-Corning, discussed how he visited the state capital to discuss the new state law that went into effect in December that allows illegal immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses.

Reed said what he took away from the discussions in Albany is the tremendous amount of misinformation about the law when it comes to the withholding of information to custom and border agents, who don’t have access to the New York state DMV database. He said New York went further than all the other states that have passed similar laws by banning the sharing of motor vehicle records information with immigration agents.

“One of the most critical aspects is that New York went beyond,” he said. “This is restricting custom and border agents from doing their job.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security decided to block New Yorkers from the Trusted Traveler Program following the Green Light Law going into effect at the end of last year.

DHS’s decision is a response to a state law allowing any person over the age of 16 to apply for a driver’s license regardless of U.S. citizenship status. Part of that law also prohibited the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles from giving records to federal immigration agents.

The Trusted Traveler Program is a certain federal programs that makes it easier for people traveling internationally to get through border security.

New York is one of 13 states altogether that have adopted a law allowing illegal immigrants to apply for a driver’s license.

Reed said he is hopeful New York state lawmakers will make changes to the Green Light Law, particularly about sharing information with custom and border agents. He said action has been taken to try and prevent a backlog of travelers at the border, which includes additional funding to mitigate the pressure on customer and border agents.

“Hopefully we can get ahead of the problem as much as we can,” Reed said.

In other business, Reed discussed the coronavirus and how Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar fielded questions on Thursday during a Ways and Means Committee meeting.

“He reinforced the message … (that the U.S.) is taking aggressive strategies to mitigate the coronavirus on U.S. soil,” Reed said.

Reed said the secretary is willing to accept additional aid to curtail the virus in the U.S., but doesn’t want a blank check. Reed said President Donald Trump’s $2.5 billion proposal in funding to bolster its response to the growing global crisis is a good starting point.