Immigration reform advocates are suing the Washington, D.C., government over a law that went into effect on Tuesday that allows illegal immigrants and foreigners to vote in city elections, arguing the policy is a “direct attack on American self-government” that would let Russian and Chinese diplomats cast ballots.
The Immigration Reform Law Institute said the bill designed to give non-citizen residents a voice in local politics “automatically dilutes the votes of U.S. citizens on a massive scale.” Its lawsuit, filed on behalf of a former Republican mayoral candidate, argues that the bill violates the “fundamental constitutional right to vote of the plaintiffs” while denying them “equal protection of the law.”
“This law doesn’t just give foreign citizens a voice in our country’s affairs, it gives them voting power that politicians inevitably will have to respond to,” said Christopher Hajec, IRLI’s director of litigation. “That transfer of power flies in the face of the clear right of the American people to govern themselves.” Read more…
