New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for federal investigations into his state's removal from federal programs that allow vetted travelers to avoid long security lines at airports and borders.
Cuomo said the ban, which lasted five months, was a "clear abuse of government power for political purposes" by the Trump administration.
His comments to reporters in Albany, New York, on Friday come one day after the Department of Homeland Security announced that New Yorkers could again enroll in trusted traveler programs, including Global Entry, following a dispute that centered on immigration policy. In a lawsuit over the matter, DHS officials told a court Thursday that they had misrepresented some facts in the case.
"They got caught. It was all politics, all the time," Cuomo said Friday.
The governor called for the Department of Justice and congressional Democrats to launch investigations and said his state might seek civil damages.
Cuomo said Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy might have possible criminal and civil liability.
The dispute between the Trump administration and New York state began with a state policy to cut off some federal access to state motor vehicle records as part of a newly enacted state law to allow undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses.
The Trump administration had argued the policy was unique among states but later told a court that several other states, including California, also do not allow federal access to driving history information. Those states have been allowed to remain in the trusted traveler programs.
DHS said Thursday that it was allowing New York to return to the traveler programs after the state amended its law to allow federal officials to access the records of people applying for the programs. However, federal officials said the law was still in opposition to DHS's mission.
"Local New York law continues to maintain provisions that undermine the security of the American people and purport to criminalize information sharing between law enforcement entities," Wolf said Thursday.
