Trump, New York Governor Meet Over State's Refusal To Share Immigrant Data

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) US President Donald Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo met to discuss the administration's ban on New Yorkers applying for expedited travel programs amid the state's refusal to cooperate on the deportation of undocumented migrants, Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf said.

Last week, DHS banned New Yorkers from the program because the state refused to share private information that could lead to deportation of undocumented migrants.

"Today, I joined President Trump and Governor Cuomo for a productive meeting. The relationship between New York State and the Federal government is very important but has been made difficult by the unilateral actions of New York State regarding the sharing of critical security information with DHS," Wolf said in a statement on Thursday.

Wolf said New York is the only state that restricts the US border agency from accessing key data related to law enforcement, customs, and trade. However, he said DHS will continue discussions with New York "to find a mutually agreeable solution."

After the meeting Cuomo said he restated to Trump that New York is willing to provide drivers license records for those, and only those, applying for the expedited travel program.

"He's [Trump] open to working with us on this and we'll continue the conversation in the coming week," Cuomo said in a tweet.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump tweeted that Cuomo should put national security ahead of the interests of New York.