Monday, June 3, 2013

NYC to Give Vote to Non-Citizens

A controversial proposal in New York City to give voting rights to hundreds of thousands of non-citizen immigrants could make them into a key vote in America's largest city.

The Big Apple proposal, though, could resonate with other municipalities, inspiring them to follow suit -- and, if Congress approves an otherwise unrelated immigration overhaul, the number of newly eligible immigrant voters could swell into a potent voting bloc on the local level.

That's because the national overhaul being considered in Washington creates a so-called pathway to legal status for millions of illegal immigrants. By itself, this does little in the near-term to give non-citizens the right to vote. But if New York City approves its plan to give its 800,000 legal immigrants a say in city politics, illegal immigrants could eventually join the voter rolls there as well. And they wouldn't have to wait for citizenship to vote.

The idea is a controversial step in a decades-long debate over who should have a say in how their cities are run. Already, four Massachusetts towns and a half-dozen cities in Maryland allow non-citizen immigrants to vote on a local level.

Read more at: FOX News

1 comment:

  1. Makes me wonder why I don't just give up my citizenship altogether. Seems like being a nationless sovereign, I would have more rights.

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