Opponents of the latest effort to approve illegal-immigrant voting in a California city believe they have a winning strategy that will defeat a ballot measure in Santa Ana and that could be used to stymie the noncitizen-voting movement in other parts of the state as well.
Click here to SUBSCRIBE to CA Political Review
Measure DD, which is on the Santa Ana ballot on Tuesday, would authorize illegal immigrants who reside in Orange County’s second-largest city to vote in municipal elections. By a 4-3 vote, the city council added the measure to the ballot last fall.
More than 300,000 people live in Santa Ana, and the city serves as the county seat.
Supporters of the measure, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say that about a quarter of city residents can’t participate in elections because they aren’t citizens, and that allowing them to vote would make “city-wide elections fair and inclusive.”
“Many have lived here for decades and contribute greatly to the local economy. They pay taxes, own homes and property, run local businesses, work and raise families in Santa Ana,” backers of DD wrote in an official argument of support. “They should be able to vote for the city officials who make decisions impacting their daily lives.”
But opponents of the measure say that allowing illegal immigrants to vote devalues citizenship. James Lacy, a longtime conservative activist and lawyer, said that the right to vote is the “crown jewel” and “the most precious right any citizen in the United States has.”
Lacy told National Review that his campaign, Santa Ana Citizens for Voting, is specifically targeting the many naturalized citizens of Santa Ana who came to the country legally and earned the right to vote after pledging allegiance to the United States.
He believes helping naturalized citizens understand the value of that earned right is the “key to defeating noncitizen voting measures throughout the state of California in communities that have high Hispanic, high Latino registration.”
“I am the son of an immigrant. My mother was born in Russia, escaped communism,” Lacy said. “I understand immigrant families. And I inherently understand the value of achieving citizenship. I understand naturalization of citizenship, and how proud a person is who comes into the nation legally and becomes a citizen.”
Lacy, the founder of the United States Justice Foundation, has been a leader in the legal fights against noncitizen voting measures in San Francisco and Oakland. In recent years, voters in both Bay Area cities authorized illegal immigrants to vote in school-board elections, though Oakland leaders haven’t yet created a process for it to take effect.
Santa Ana, an increasingly diverse city in what used to be a conservative stronghold, is the next target for the illegal-immigrant voting advocates. Allowing illegal immigrants to vote will make Santa Ana a “stronger city,” they contend.
Lacy’s group successfully challenged their initial ballot language, which stated that the measure was aimed at noncitizens, “including those who are taxpayers and parents.” Lacy said that was an attempt to insert biased langauge onto the ballot.
“””allowing illegal immigrants to vote devalues citizenship”””
This comes under the heading of DUH!!!
Isn’t it interesting that over 60% of Hispanics voted for a similar bill that passed State Wide………
Without their vote it would not have passed. They value both their “born here” citizenship and those who are naturalized value it.
The Left Socialists and (we have to have a safety net) it isn’t fair crowd don’t get it.
Remember without a border and rights of citizenship there is no nation.