New York City passed a major legislative victory last week dealing with immigrant rights, and specifically, the right to vote. Under new legislation passed by the City Council, NYC residents, i.e. green card holders will now have the right to vote in municipal elections. This is big news considering that New York City is a major economic and social hub of the country, and such events could soon spur other Democrat led cities to also adopt such legislation.
According to the New York Times, there are approximately 800,000 green card holders (legal permanent residents) that live in Greater New York City.[1]
For those that might be unfamiliar, one of the most significant, and perhaps controversial rules when it comes to U.S. immigration is the fact that voting in state and presidential elections is reserved for citizens only. In fact many citizens in the U.S. who openly support work visas and a path to citizenship for aliens still ultimately believe that only U.S. citizens should have the right to vote. NYC is now changing this dynamic by allowing legal residents to finally have a say in communities they have lived in for decades in some cases.
While it is not the same thing as voting in a U.S. presidential election, municipal elections still matter. Elections for members of school boards, for example, are considered part of municipal elections. So is voting for a new mayor. In New York, heavily populated and chiefly Hispanic and Caribbean neighborhoods will now be able to vote for new leaders who will represent their children’s education.
What Happens Next?
Although the legislation has passed, the City Council now has to actually set up a new system that is designed to handle all of the new voters for future municipal elections. At this point, there have also been opponents in the political scene who are trying to kill the new legislation. For example, some Republicans want to introduce a new measure stating that in order to vote under the current legislation, you need to have been a resident (green card holder) for more than one year, in order to avoid having temporary residents trying to vote in certain elections.
In order for such a demand to be met, lawyers would need to file a motion to request that the courts revisit a certain issue.
