Washington, D.C. Democrats green-lit a bill Tuesday that would give residents, regardless of immigration status, the right to vote in local elections.
The measure was advanced by a vote of 12-1 and will go for a final vote before heading to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s desk.
“Our immigrant neighbors of all statuses participate, contribute and care about our community in our city,” D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen said Tuesday, reports The Hill. “They, like all DC residents, deserve a right to have a say in their government.
“They raise families here, contribute to their community,” he continued. “They run businesses that people depend on, and they pay taxes that we decide how to spend. Yet they have no ability to elect local leaders who make decisions about their bodies, their businesses and their tax dollars.”
The lone vote against the measure came from Councilmember Mary Cheh, who objected to the 30-day residency period.
“This bill is eminently supportable, except for one aspect about it,” she said. “And I asked this question of the committee as a whole: Could someone who took the bus from Texas, or was put on the bus from Texas, or wherever, and dropped off at the vice president’s property, and then remained in the District of Columbia for 30 days and was 18 years old — could that person then vote in our local elections? And the answer was yes.”
Since April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been sending illegal immigrants to the District to share the burden border communities face from mass migration. So far, he has sent more than 7,000 illegal immigrants to D.C., prompting Bowser to declare a public emergency after repeated requests for assistance from the Nation Guard were denied.
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