MID-HUDSON – The first day of the state law that allows undocumented people the ability to secure driver’s licenses brought hundreds to the motor vehicle offices in each county.
In Dutchess, at 8:45 a.m., there was a line of people outside the county building in Poughkeepsie waiting to obtain the paperwork to start the process.
Applicants cannot automatically get a license; they must take the permit test first and they were administered in Poughkeepsie, Wappingers Falls and Beacon to accommodate the volume.
In Orange County, there were similar long lines. Ignacio Acevedo, from Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson was at the Goshen DMV office to help people waiting on line. There were Chinese, Polish, Hungarian and Latin Americans eager to start the process, he said.
The Ulster County DMV in Kingston was also busy all day long as hundreds showed up in homes of securing licenses.
Despite the long hours of waiting, Acevedo said everyone was understanding and orderly and the DMV was accommodating given the large numbers of people.
