In latest reversal, Gillibrand now supports letting illegal immigrants get driver's licenses

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Kirsten Gillibrand's sharp left turn on immigration

After initially opposing the idea of her home state granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has had a change of heart.

“I think we have to make it possible for people to provide for their families,” the New York Democrat said Wednesday, as she was leaving to attend her 2020 presidential campaign kickoff event.

Gillibrand's new stand on the issue is in contrast from the position she took during her days in the House, when she opposed then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s controversial 2007 plan to allow illegal immigrants living in New York to obtain driver licenses.

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"I do not support giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants," Gillibrand said back then, the Washington Free Beacon reported. At the time, Gillibrand said she supported legislation that required anyone seeking a drivers' license to show proof of citizenship first.

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At a Wednesday news conference in Troy – a city of about 50,000 residents just outside Gillibrand's birthplace, the state capital Albany – the second-term senator said her heart has guided her policy reversals on issues such as gun control, granting amnesty to illegal immigrants and her opposition to sanctuary cities, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

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On Tuesday, she announced the formation of an exploratory committee for a 2020 White house bid, during an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show.” She will head to Iowa on Friday for a meeting and fundraiser with local Democrats.