New York City is lousy with problems: violent crime has armed guards back in the subway; illegal migrants are sleeping in droves on the streets, stressing city resources; and everything costs too much, making it harder for people to live there (unless you’re an illegal migrant — then you get free cash and housing).
Consider all those problems. Now consider that New York City lawmakers are wasting time appealing a decision to strike down a law that would allow illegal migrants to vote.
Ridiculous, right? But here we are…
“Empowering New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process can only strengthen New York City by increasing civic engagement,” council spokesperson Rendy Desamours said in a statement, ignoring the fact that the people he’s referencing aren’t actually New Yorkers.
According to Politico, The legislation was ruled unconstitutional one month ago by the Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department in New York.
From Politico:
It had sought to allow an estimated 800,000 eligible non-citizens to cast ballots in city elections including those for mayor and City Council. But Local Law 11 of 2022 had been challenged by a coalition of right-leaning elected officials, including Staten Island Republicans Vito Fossella, Joe Borelli and Nicole Malliotakis. They argue the right to vote is sacred to U.S. citizens and the legislation is unconstitutional.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration had been defending the law and appealed a lower court’s ruling against it, but representatives did not immediately respond to questions Monday on whether its attorneys would appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals.
As the deadline to appeal arrived on Monday, the New York Immigration Coalition and its allies chanted “our city, our vote” during a rally outside City Hall.
“So many of our residents have been paying taxes, have been contributing to this community and yet they have no say. That ain’t right,” said the council’s immigration committee chair, Brooklyn Democrat Alexa Avilés. “Granting voting rights to someone does not take someone else’s voting rights away. We are making the pie larger.”
But, according to a McLaughlin & Associates poll from May 2021, Americans don’t necessarily want the “pie larger;” 61% of Americans disapproved of non-citizens voting, and only 30% approved of the measure.
Not even close to a majority.
Why is the New York City Council spending its time and resources this way?
