New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday signed a bill making New York the 13th state to offer driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Cuomo signed the bill Monday evening after announcing that the state's attorney general had expressed confidence in the office's ability to defend the law in court.

“The Solicitor General, a former federal prosecutor and former Acting U.S. Solicitor General, who presumably knows whether or not the relevant information can be safeguarded, has remained unresponsive on this critical issue,” Cuomo's counsel Alphonso David said in a statement Monday.

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“With that said, based on the Attorney General's representation, the Governor will sign the bill,” he added in the press release. “The key to this bill is not the political intent but the legal effect. We hope the Attorney General's assessment is correct for the safety of the thousands of undocumented individuals who are relying on her legal opinion.”

Cuomo's senior adviser Rich Azzopardi confirmed later in the evening that the bill had been signed.

The following bill was acted on by the Governor today, Monday, June 17th:



Chapter 37

A3675-B Crespo - Relates to the "driver's license access and privacy act"; repeal

Same as S1747-B SEPULVEDA — Rich Azzopardi (@RichAzzopardi) June 17, 2019

In the statement on the governor's website, Cuomo's office added that Attorney General Letitia James had found that safeguards in the bill would prevent federal authorities from using state IDs to crack down on undocumented immigrants, a concern Cuomo had raised prior to the bill's signing.

"In response, the Attorney General stated that she believes there are 'safeguards' in the bill, and it can be defended; in other words, it cannot be weaponized to be used against undocumented individuals," the statement reads.