De Blasio Gave Top Vatican Official ‘IDNYC’ Card, Predicts More ‘Progressive Change’ on Amnesty

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio gave Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State who is the second most important official at the Vatican, a mock-up of New York’s new municipal identification card and said the cards will influence the immigration debate at home and abroad.

While announcing the “IDNYC” cards that will be available even to illegal immigrants, de Blasio said on Monday that when he visited the Vatican last July Parolin’s “eyes literally lit up” when de Blasio told him about the proposed plan. De Blasio, who praised Pope Francis as the moral authority on amnesty issues, said that Parolin figured the IDNYC cards “would have a transcendent impact” because they were being issued in New York. The de Blasio administration even gave Parolin and Cardinal James Dolan mock-ups last year.

Likening amnesty for illegal immigrants to gay marriage, de Blasio predicted more “progressive change” on amnesty, saying that activists on the ground “will create pressure that will force federal action on amnesty.” He said like gay marriage, the dominoes would fall in favor of amnesty after “a long wait for fairness.”

On Obama’s executive amnesty, De Blasio, who hosted mayors from across the country with Obama administration officials to discuss how to effectively implement Obama’s executive amnesty, said liberal mayors are “enthusiastic” about starting to implement it.

“With every step taken on the ground, it’s going to make it harder and harder for Washington to avoid acting,” he said.

De Blasio also called for New York to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

“If someone happens to be undocumented it should not stop them from having a driver’s license,” de Blasio said, noting that it is neither “safe” nor “healthy” for a lot of people to drive without licenses.

He cited other states that have given illegal immigrants driver’s licenses and said New York should follow suit, saying “if the state of Colorado can do it politically and practically, I assure you the state of New York can and should.”