Immigrants react to Spitzer’s reversal on licenses

Rosa Salgero said she, like many others in Brewster, was looking forward to getting her license in December.

“We have a need to work to maintain our children, our families in our countries. It’s sad, you know,” said Salgero, 35, who is from Guatemala. “There are people who drive without insurance because they have to work far away. In the end, they lose more because they get caught and go to jail. Not everyone, but some.”

For Barrios, the governor’s reversal is another letdown after the defeat of federal legislation that would help undocumented high school graduates obtain legal status. It’s also a practical matter: Her commute from Ossining takes about 15 minutes by car compared with more than two hours by bus, she said. So she spends all day at campus, from 7:30 a.m. to about 11:30 p.m., because that’s when she’s able to carpool. Yesterday, she was training to be a mentor for Latina high school students, but wasn’t sure whether she could make it to the program’s events in Sleepy Hollow.”*

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