ALBANY – Illegal immigrants will be able to obtain driver’s licenses under a controversial new policy to be announced today by Gov. Spitzer, The Post has learned.

Under the change, the Department of Motor Vehicles will no longer require applicants provide Social Security numbers or proof that they are eligible for Social Security cards, a source said.

Instead, the DMV will accept valid foreign passports, previous state driver’s licenses and other verifiable proofs of ID that would be considered on a point-based system, the source said.

“The DMV does not believe it’s in the business checking a person’s legal status, it’s not the INS,” the source said.

Following 9/11, then-Gov. George Pataki in 2002 issued an executive order requiring driver’s-license applicants to show a Social Security number to prove their residency status.

Sen. Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican who is considering a run for mayor, blasted Spitzer for repealing the requirement, saying it will make the city a more dangerous place.

“The people of this great state didn’t elect him to allow terrorists to go unchecked, and that’s what he’s doing,” Golden said. “We’ll be setting ourselves up for a worse disaster than 9/11.”

Spitzer’s plan, which needs no legislative approval, will be phased in in three stages beginning in December.

The change would cost the state $1.5 million in the initial stage, with the expectation that it would be offset through fees, the source said.

A Spitzer spokeswoman would not comment.

But Spitzer – who as attorney general defended the Pataki rules in court – said during last year’s campaign that keeping illegal immigrants from having access to driver’s licenses does not make the country more safe, but instead keeps immigrants in the “shadows” and creates a class of people with no public records.

Immigrant groups say the Pataki policy made it tough for law-abiding immigrants to work, shop for necessities and go to doctors’ appointments while also making the roads more dangerous because of unlicensed and uninsured drivers.

Those who oppose allowing illegal immigrants to obtain licenses argue it is a threat to national security.

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com