Upstate Democrats don't want to talk about driver's license bill

ALBANY — Luis Mendez, host of the Spanish-language political radio show "La Hora del Lonche" (“Lunchtime”), says extending driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants is a safety issue on Long Island, where most rely on cars to commute to work.

"Today I hit the road in Long Island knowing that people drive without a license and didn't go to driver's ed, because they didn't have to," said Mendez, whose Suffolk County-based show reaches tens of thousands of households in the surrounding area. "That can be changed."

Mendez tagged the Long Island bloc of Democratic senators — John Brooks, Todd Kaminsky, Anna Kaplan, Kevin Thomas, James Gaughran and Monica Martinez — in a Facebook post announcing that he would focus his upcoming programming on the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act, which enables those without a Social Security number to obtain a driver's license.

All six senators — including three freshmen from Suffolk County who are immigrants themselves — un-tagged themselves from the post, Mendez said.

Read more: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Long-Island-six-take-heat-for-silence-on-driver-s-13738920.php