Immigrants in LA Should Be Allowed Vote in City and School Board Elections!
Los Angeles has a large immigrant community. Nearly forty percent of our residents are immigrants, and almost fifty percent of our workers in this city were born in a foreign country. If we conceptualize this, then we have to recognize that the future of Los Angeles hinges on its ability to integrate these immigrants into every facet of the cultural, social, and political life of Los Angeles.
Immigrants in Los Angeles are business owners, nurses, professors, lawyers, religious leaders, pay their taxes, have children in public schools, and even fight wars for this country. Yes, immigrants should be part of the political community. Let us start the process of stitching them into the social fabric of this city.
Allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections can be beneficial to our communities. That sense of being part of the decision-making process will undoubtedly provide non-citizens a sense of belonging. It will indeed begin the process of making them citizens. Immigrants with green cards, work authorization, and DACA recipients should participate in this city and school boards elections.
Immigrants should also be summoned for jury duty. People who have been accused of criminal crimes in this country have the constitutional right to have “a jury of their peers” at trial. Many immigrants are often accused of crimes that they might not have committed. Of course, that does not mean an immigrant from Nigerian accused of a crime should have Nigerian Jurors.
The City of Los Angels is facing a civic crisis. Voters do not see the value in participating in their city government’s elections—only ten percent of registered voters participated in the last mayoral elections when voters re-elected Mayor Garcetti. In light of such a crisis, civic leaders led by then Council President Herb Wesson and the Los Angeles Ethics Commission members held town-hall meetings at city hall. They invited experts and the public for conversations that could lead to changes in improving civic engagement.
Many ideas, some of them silly, were considered. One of them was going to provide financial motivation to voters with cash lottery prizes. Another idea was to change the city of Los Angeles’ elections to even-numbered years; turnout is significantly high when governors and presidents are elected, it was claimed. They adopted the latter, but the jury is still out on whether civic participation has significantly increased.
A movement to expand non-citizens’ voting rights is getting traction in many cities throughout the nation.
The city of Chicago lets immigrants vote in school board elections. Moreover, in Vermont, cities Montpelier and Winooski now allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. San Francisco started allowing immigrants to vote in 2018. Furthermore, New York is on the verge of making it a reality. Massachusetts and Portland have toyed with the idea, and nine cities in Maryland allow non-citizens to vote in local and school board elections.
In the City of Los Angeles, non-citizens have been voting in neighborhood councils’ elections in their communities since the early 2000s. Los Angeles now needs to expand these voting rights to city council races, mayoral and school board elections. That should not be hard.
At least some civic leaders appear to be receptive to the idea to empower non-citizens civically. In Nov. 2019, the LAUSD Board Members passed a resolution that authorized a study that would allow immigrants to vote in school board races. The pandemic came with force, and everything was shelved. It is not clear what happened to this study. However, it should be noted that expanding voting rights to immigrants might ultimately require a ballot initiative.
The U.S immigration system is broken. Legalizing immigrants and providing a path to citizenship has become an unending cultural war. The conversation about immigration reform has become madly irrational. Still, the fight for legalization for the eleven million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows should continue with vigor.
“Immigrants’ integration,” some might argue, is a process that takes time. Immigrants need to learn the language and make an effort to understand this country’s culture and the values laid out in the Constitution.
These naysayers are not just right-wing and xenophobic folks. The sentiment is the same among white liberals in the state. Not long ago, Governor Brown vetoed a bill that would allow immigrants to serve on juries. “Jury service, like voting, is quintessentially a prerogative and responsibility of citizenship,” Governor Brown argued after vetoing the bill.
Those people who resist giving civic empowerment to immigrants must live in a bubble as they conveniently ignored how much immigrants love this country and how much they know about the basic concept and ideals embedded in historical documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Research shows that most immigrants tend to assimilate. They also keep themselves abreast of the public affairs of their communities.
At one point in this country’s history, immigrants were allowed to vote, but anti-immigrant forces stopped it in the 1920s.
From day one, it can be argued, immigrants have always been an integral part of the American experiment. After all, the driving force before the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia was an immigrant. The Constitution and the economic system we have in place are the labor of love of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant.
Hamilton was born in 1757 on the Caribbean island of Nevis. He was an unaccompanied fifteen years old minor sent to colonies to study in 1772. He was also one of the sons of liberty who fought along with General Washington during the revolutionary war of 1776. Had Alexander Hamilton been excluded from these significant turning points in this country’s history, that in itself “would have been considered the general misfortune of mankind.”
As political theorists argue, the premise of representative democracy is that people are not only economic actors but also members of a self-governing community. This promise cannot be achieved when many people are excluded from the political process. Letting legal immigrants participate in municipal and school board elections should be viewed as a source of empowerment that will surely strengthen the civic fabric of Los Angeles. And of course, there is that old unfairness of “taxation without representation,” as all immigrants also pay taxes.
The time has come for Los Angeles to continue honoring that grand tradition of providing an opportunity to those who contribute to this community’s growth and who are destined to help define this great city’s future.
Thank you for reading.
Chamba Sanchez
________________________________________________________________
Photo Credit: Bigstock
Sources consulted.
Carcamo, Cindy. “San Francisco will allow noncitizens to vote in a local election, creating a new immigration flashpoint.” Los Angeles Times 26 Oct. 2018.
“Statement by Board Member, Kelly Gomez, Empowering Parents to Choose Their Leaders.” Los Angeles Unified School District 5 Nov. 2019. Press Release.
Golberg, Nicholas. “Is it time to let noncitizens vote in local elections? Some Americans think that’s just nutty.” Los Angeles Times 8 August 2021.
Griswold, Daniel. “Immigrants Have Enriched American Culture and Enhanced Our Influence in the World.” Cato Institute 18 Feb. 2002
McGreevy, Patrick and Melanie Mason. “Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes measure allowing non-citizens on juries.” Los Angeles Times 7 Oct. 2013
Washington, John. “New York City’s Radical Proposal for Noncitizen Voting.” Thenation.com 30 July 2021.
I agree that legal Immigrants should be given the opportunity to vote in city and school board elections. As you mentioned the population in Los Angeles is from residents who are legal immigrants or workers in this city who were born in a foreign country. I’m sure that everyone in Los Angeles is either a legal immigrant, knows a legal immigrant, or parents are legal immigrants which is the reason I think they should be able to contribute to voting in their city because they make up about 50 percent or more of the population in Los Angeles. Many legal immigrants have children which should have already given them the authority to vote in school board elections if it involves their children’s education and their future. Many legal immigrants have become lawyers, nurses, doctors, and many more which is confusing and shocking as to why they still haven’t been given the right to vote in their city. Legal Immigrants should be given the right to vote in city and school board elections because they are part of a political community and should be able to vote as any other resident.
Yes, I think that illegal immigrants should be able to vote. The reason that I think that illegal immigrants should be able to vote is because as stated in the article “Los Angeles has a large immigrant community. Nearly forty percent of our residents are immigrants, and almost fifty percent of our workers in this city were born in a foreign country.” In Los Angeles alone the immigrant population is 40%, it could be much higher in the US in total. This leaves out a large number of people that can’t choose what happens in the country they live in. The immigrant population could single handedly change the tide of a vote by doubling the votes for a presidential candidate, an act that’s passed, etc. I think it’s unfair because until 3 months ago half of my family was undocumented and unable to vote, I would see the be scared and stressed during election time and after they got the ability ot vote I think it will end up causing more ease because then they would be able to finally express their opinion.
Immigrants have always been a part of our long history and Los Angeles has a large immigrant community. Immigrants have contributed so much to our society that has been overlooked and getting legalized is such a long and tedious process because of our broken U.S immigration system. But despite that, they should be given an opportunity to give their input when it comes to important elections that will ultimately affect them in some sort of way. Many cities have let and encourage immigrants to vote on multiple occasions and this should be applied in Los Angeles as well. Especially considering the situation where “The City of Los Angels is facing a civic crisis. Voters do not see the value in participating in their city government’s elections—only ten percent of registered voters participated in the last mayoral elections when voters re-elected Mayor Garcetti. In light of such a crisis, civic leaders led by then Council President Herb Wesson and the Los Angeles Ethics Commission members held town-hall meetings at city hall. They invited experts and the public for conversations that could lead to changes in improving civic engagement.” Los Angeles needs people to vote and it is urgent so that things can continue to progress smoothly. So instead of coming up with silly ideas, they should give immigrants the right to vote to empower them and allow them to be heard. Of course, there should be necessary steps for immigrants to vote but they should at least be given a choice so that they will feel a sense of belonging.
After reading this article, I have to say that immigrants should be given the right to vote. Several immigrants do things that US citizens do on a daily basis, which makes them a part of the country as well and should be viewed the same way as other citizens. As stated in the article, “Immigrants in Los Angeles are business owners, nurses, professors, lawyers, religious leaders, pay their taxes, have children in public schools, and even fight wars for this country.” Immigrants pay their taxes and participate in a variety of groups and organizations to help improve their community, which is something that many citizens lack. Also, they have learned the way the system in our country works and they have become politically active. Allowing them to join the political community would mean that they would have the right to vote in city and school board elections, which will benefit the communities in Los Angeles.
Weather immigrants should be allowed to vote in the city and the school board elections should not be questioned. The simple answer is yes. Yes, they should be allowed to vote. They should be allowed to participate in activities just like citizens are. immigrants work just as hard as citizens do, if not harder. They pay taxes just like a citizen does. They should have the same privileges as anyone else. They should have the opportunity to learn the language and the culture. For example, undocumented people should be allowed to participate in jury duty. The reason I say this is because they will be able to learn more about how the system works.
Yes I do agree that Immigrants should be given the chance to vote in school board and city elections. They work hard, pay taxes, and should be allowed to vote just like anybody else. As the article stated, ” Immigrants in Los Angeles are business owners, nurses, professors, lawyers, religious leaders, pay their taxes, have children in public schools, and even fight wars for this country.” That quote alone proves that immigrants should be allowed to vote because they are just like any other citizen that care for this country and should be allowed to vote.
I believe legal immigrants should have the right to vote because many parts of America are made up of immigrants and having their voices heard will have a positive impact on this country. Immigrants already vote in councils and school boards in small parts of certain states and as of right now have had a great influence in these regions. If having immigrants vote in these small portions comply with changes and something good for schools and councils imagine what it can do for our nation altogether. Degrading or denying someone the right to vote due to their legal status is not something is the country should do because everyone who lives here has the right and freedom to cast their voice. No one will know what kind of benefits immigrants could bring to the table if they were allowed to vote until it is something that is tested and tried out. If legal immigrants are out here having full-time careers and wartime then I believe they should have the right to vote what gets done and what doesn’t in America.
Should legal immigrants be allowed to vote?
-I believe that legal immigrants should be allowed to vote. These immigrants have rightfully earned their place in this country. Immigrants have historically done so much for this country and have consistently got nothing in return. America has undoubtly benefited from their labor so letting them contribute to their country politically should be a no-brainer. America wouldn’t be the place it is today if it weren’t for the immigrants that helped shape it.