Dems Claim They Aren’t Importing An Electorate, But These 5 Examples Indicate Otherwise
Conservative claims that one of Democrats’ motivation for allowing millions of illegal aliens to cross America’s border is to give these foreigners U.S. citizenship and voting rights are consistently labeled by Democrats as unfounded “racist conspiracy theories.” The idea, as proponents of this theory argue, is that it will give Democrats a permanent electoral majority and allow them to dominate U.S. elections for the foreseeable future.
Yet, despite their melodramatic protests, everything Democrats have said and done regarding the ongoing invasion at America’s southern border indicates this theory isn’t mere speculation.
The latest example came Tuesday, when President Joe Biden took executive action to unilaterally grant deportation protections to more than 500,000 illegal aliens married to U.S. citizens. According to the BBC, the order will allow these foreign nationals to “work in the US legally” and put them on a pathway to citizenship.
Aliens must have resided in the U.S. at least 10 years and been married by June 17 to qualify for the program, according to the White House. The order bears all the hallmarks of illegality that plagued former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.
But somehow, after this order and three years of nonexistent border enforcement under Biden, Democrats want Americans to believe they aren’t interested in handing out U.S. citizenship and voting rights to foreign nationals like it’s candy on Halloween. So, in case you weren’t already convinced, here’s five examples of Democrats making it abundantly clear where they stand on the issue of illegal aliens voting in American elections.
1. Alien Voting in Local Elections
While largely dismissed by Democrat media activists, leftist-run cities in states such as California, Maryland, and Vermont allow aliens to vote in municipal elections.
In 2022, for example, the Oakland City Council sent a ballot measure to voters for approval granting “noncitizen parents, legal guardians, and legally recognized caregivers of children who are eligible to attend Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) schools, the ability to vote in OUSD Board Director elections.” The measure ultimately passed and took effect last year.
Meanwhile, the city of Burlington, Vermont amended its town charter in March 2023 to authorize alien voting in local races. A veto of the measure by liberal Republican Gov. Phil Scott was subsequently overridden by the state’s Democrat-dominated legislature on June 30, 2023, leading to the law’s immediate enaction.
A measure passed by New York City Democrats in 2021 authorizing some foreign nationals to vote in local races was declared unconstitutional by the New York Supreme Court the following year.
2. Fight to Preserve Alien Voting in D.C. Elections
Similar to the aforementioned localities, Washington, D.C. Democrats adopted a law in 2022 permitting noncitizen voting in municipal elections.
Utilizing their constitutional authority to oversee the district, House Republicans passed a measure in February 2023 blocking the law’s implementation. While 42 House Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in supporting the bill’s passage (260-173), the measure was opposed by a majority of the lower chamber’s minority party and effectively killed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who refused to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote.
The GOP-controlled House passed a new measure seeking to repeal the D.C. law last month. The bill received support from 210 Republicans and 52 Democrats, with 143 Democrats voting against. Senior House Democrats told Axios they expected some members to vote in support of the bill due to their electoral vulnerability this fall.
The bill has not been considered by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
3. Opposition to the SAVE Act
Earlier this year, congressional Republicans introduced the SAVE Act, a bill designed to close existing loopholes in federal law that foreign nationals could exploit to register and vote in U.S. elections.
As highlighted by bill co-sponsor and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Democrats’ claim the SAVE Act isn’t needed because federal law already prohibits foreign voting in federal elections ignores the fact that there is no enforcement mechanism to prevent this from happening. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling effectively barred states from requiring proof of U.S. citizenship when accepting federal voter registration forms.
Since its introduction, Democrats and their media allies have worked overtime to smear the legislation and downplay its necessity in protecting America’s electoral system from foreign interference. From NBC News to the Associated Press, the web of dishonesty woven by left-wing media activists about the SAVE Act has been nonstop.
Democrat-aligned organizations have also deployed phony talking points to justify their opposition to the bill.
A coalition of left-wing groups penned a letter to ranking members of the House Administration Committee last month, asking the body to reject the SAVE Act. The groups falsely claimed the bill is “unnecessary and dangerous,” and represents “the most recent example of what has been a string of recent efforts to make voter registration and voting more difficult, particularly for voters of color.” They also outlandishly claimed the SAVE Act “seeks to intimidate members of immigrant communities and communities of color from exercising their lawful right to vote.”
Of course, these organizations didn’t provide any evidence justifying their ridiculous assertions.
4. Democrat Confessions
Beyond their actions, some Democrats have been very public about their goal of providing the ability to vote in U.S. elections to foreign nationals. Case in point: Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Last month, Fox News reported that Raskin — who voted against the recently passed GOP bill prohibiting alien voting in D.C. local elections — authored a paper for the American University Washington College of Law in 1993, in which he defended “Alien Suffrage.”
“In this Article, I will argue that the current blanket exclusion of noncitizens from the ballot is neither constitutionally required nor historically normal,” Raskin wrote. “Moreover, the disenfranchisement of aliens at the local level is vulnerable to deep theoretical objections since resident aliens—who are governed, taxed, and often drafted just like citizens—have a strong democratic claim to being considered members, indeed citizens, of their local communities.”
5. Lawfare Against Proof of Citizenship Voting Requirements
When they’re not smearing Republican-backed election integrity laws with dishonest lies, Democrats are busy weaponizing the legal system to dismantle them.
In July 2022, the Biden Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Arizona, alleging the state’s law requiring residents show proof of citizenship to vote for president is “discriminatory” and violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The suit was one of several brought by left-wing groups, as well as the Arizona Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton disagreed with the DOJ’s baseless claims, ruling in March that “Arizona’s interests in preventing non-citizens from voting and promoting public confidence in Arizona’s elections outweighs the limited burden voters might encounter when required to provide” documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC). As my colleague Brianna Lyman explained, Bolton’s decision did, however, hamstring “a handful of the state’s efforts to make its voter rolls more secure.”
“[Bolton] had previously struck down the law requiring DPOC for presidential elections, although her Thursday ruling allowed the state to continue requiring DPOC to register to vote for statewide elections,” Lyman wrote.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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