Effort to Open Voting to Illegal Immigrants Underway in NYC

Immigration activists are pushing for illegal immigrants to be granted the right to vote in New York City and say legislation to that effect could be introduced later this year.

The New York Post reports that a proposal to extend voting rights to illegal immigrants, allowing them to vote in elections for city-wide offices, was highlighted at a Black and Latino Legislative Caucus event.

“We want to expand the right to vote for everybody, not suppress the vote. What a radical idea,” Bertha Lewis, head of the Black Institute, said according to the Post. The Post notes she said they expect such legislation to be introduced in the spring.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has made extensive efforts on behalf of illegal immigrants, including offering a city identification card. According to the Post, Lewis said she sees the extension of voting rights as part of that effort.

“People want to come out of the shadows,” Lewis said, according to the paper.

As the Post notes, a number of years ago there was an effort to extend voting rights to legal non-citizen residents. The bill, which as introduced by Queens Councilman Dan Dromm and...
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