News 10 WTEN: Albany, New York News, Weather, SportsSpitzer Scraps Unpopular Plan to Give Licenses to Illegals

Spitzer Scraps Unpopular Plan to Give Licenses to Illegals

The day after a poll shows Eliot Spitzer could not get elected governor because of fallout from his plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, the governor pulls the plug on the controversial plan!

The governor revealed his reversal late Tuesday night in a phone call to the New York Times. Then, Wednesday morning in Washington, standing with several Congressional lawmakers from New York State, the governor publicly announced he is scrapping the plan.

"I am announcing today that I am withdrawing my proposal," said Spitzer.

His proposal would have allowed one-million illegals in the state to obtain a valid driver's license. Spitzer's plan met stiff opposition across the state. He then revised the plan, offering a three-tiered system of license, which was also met with resistance from the public and politicians.

The governor backed down in the face of new Siena poll numbers released Tuesday, that found more than 70-percent of New Yorkers oppose the plan, and only 25-percent said they would vote for him again. But the governor did not mention polls Wednesday morning, as he said the issue of illegal immigration may be too broad for one state to tackle.

"When the federal government abdicates its responsibility, states, cities, towns and villages still have to deal with the practical reality of that failure," Spitzer said. "And we face that reality every day in our schools, in our hospitals, and on our roads. In New York, that means one-million undocumented immigrants - many of whom are driving without a license and without insurance, and all of whom are living in the shadows with no real identity."

Opponents of the governor's plan are already responding. In a statement released by Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's office, the Senator says: "despite an uprising from average citizens and elected officials at every level - local, state and federal - he insisted upon plowing ahead for months. Ultimately, it took an uprising from within his own party to force him to back down today."

Stay tuned to NEWS10 and wten.com for the latest on this developing story.