New York Residents Get Green Light for Global Entry

After the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) banned New York residents from participating in Global Entry back in February, the DHS on Thursday said it would resume allowing New Yorkers to enroll in the program.

The initial ban, announced by DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, made New York residents ineligible to enroll in trusted traveler programs, including Global Entry, because of DHS’ disagreement over a new “Green Light Law” that New York adopted late last year. 

On Thursday, Wolf announced that a change in the state budget, which was announced in April, would allow federal officials access to New York’s motor-vehicle databas and allowed DHS to once again begin accepting applications from New York residents for those trusted traveler programs.

In a statement, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said “I am glad that this issue has finally been resolved for all New Yorkers.”

Over 170,000 New York residents are enrolled in the program and would have been unable to re-enroll if the DHS continued locking residents out of the program. Once the program restarts in September, New Yorkers will be able to re-enroll or enroll. 

Zane Kerby, President and CEO of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), issued a statement during the initial ban, writing that ASTA “strongly [opposed] this measure on behalf of the 8,700 New Yorkers who work at travel agencies in the state, their clients and partners.”