NYCLU to Sue DHS for Illegal Suspension of Global Entry Program for New Yorkers

NEW YORK – The New York Civil Liberties Union today announced its intention to file a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for its retaliatory suspension of enrollment and re-enrollment into the Global Entry program in New York. The NYCLU has been working with the New York State Attorney’s General Office and will file its case in coordination with the New York case announced earlier today.

The NYCLU will challenge the unlawful and irrational suspension and seek to reinstate New Yorkers’ ability to enroll and re-enroll in Global Entry. The NYCLU will sue on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers shut out of the program.

In a letter to New York DMV officials, Acting Homeland Secretary Chad Wolf attributed the decision to shut down the program to the passage and implementation of New York’s Green Light Law. The law modified the documentation required for license registration and restricted immigration authorities from freely accessing DMV data.

“This is a political attack meant to punish New Yorkers for passing common-sense laws that fly in the face of Trump’s war on immigrant communities,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Tampering with New Yorkers’ access to travel is reckless but it’s not surprising. It’s exactly what we should expect from a president who will do anything to punish people who stand in the way of his cruel agenda.”

The NYCLU plans to file its suit soon. NYCLU legal director Christopher Dunn, deputy legal director Molly Biklen, and staff attorney Antony Gemmell are counsel on the case.