Immigration advocates in New York on Thursday condemned a New York Courtroom of Appeals ruling in opposition to voting rights for Caribbean and different immigrants in New York Metropolis municipal elections.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella immigrant rights group representing over 200 immigrant teams in New York State, mentioned that the court docket “erroneously upheld a ruling declaring New York Metropolis’s Native Legislation 11 unconstitutional.”
NYIC mentioned this regulation, handed in December 2021 and enacted in January 2022, had expanded voting rights in municipal elections to roughly a million immigrant New Yorkers, together with Caribbean nationals, with authorized everlasting residency or work authorization.
The implementation of Native Legislation 11 was instantly delayed on account of a court docket problem introduced by a gaggle of New York Republican voters, officers, and members of the New York Republican State Committee and the Republican Nationwide Committee.
“New York Metropolis wants extra democracy, not much less,” NYIC President and CEO Murad Awawdeh informed Caribbean Life. “This yr is the sixth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, however as a substitute of constructing on its protections, we now have solely seen a constant diminishing of voting rights throughout the nation.
“Increasing voting rights strengthens our communities and improves our college, housing, and public providers,” he added. “The practically a million New Yorkers who gained the suitable to vote in municipal elections with Native Legislation 11 pay taxes, personal companies, work important jobs, and contribute to their communities.
“Right now’s choice by the New York Courtroom of Appeals to strike down Native Legislation 11 is a devastating setback for voting rights and disenfranchises the communities that assist hold New York Metropolis working,” Awawdeh continued. “We strongly disagree with the court docket’s choice, which undermines the very ideas of inclusion that make our democracy robust.”
He mentioned denying Caribbean and different immigrants with authorized everlasting residency or work authorization the suitable to vote in native elections is “a grave injustice, stripping them of the flexibility to affect the insurance policies that govern their each day lives.”
However Awawdeh mentioned that whereas the choice to overturn Native Legislation 11 is “upsetting, it won’t deter us.
“We stay steadfast in our dedication to preventing for a extra inclusive democracy, the place all New Yorkers can have a voice of their native communities,” he vowed.
Cesar Ruiz, affiliate counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which represented immigrant teams within the case, mentioned that the New York Courtroom of Appeals’ ruling is “a horrible setback for our immigrant communities who contribute a lot to the well-being of town.
“Sadly, this choice aligns with the wishes of these on this nation who, at this second, are persecuting immigrants and need to erase their affect and presence in our society and reinforce systemic obstacles that actively strip immigrants of alternatives for illustration, safety, and inclusion,” he mentioned.
“This ruling additional deepens inequalities and units a harmful precedent that undermines New York’s legacy as a spot that values variety and equal entry to justice,” he added. “LatinoJustice PRLDEF won’t stand idly by as our communities are disenfranchised, and we’ll proceed to battle for insurance policies that shield and uplift all New Yorkers, no matter immigration standing.”
Susan Stamler, government director of United Neighborhood Homes (UNH), mentioned that for greater than a decade, her group has fought alongside companions to broaden democracy by permitting extra New Yorkers to vote in native elections.
“Right now’s Courtroom of Appeals ruling hanging down municipal voting rights for authorized everlasting residents and inexperienced card holders is devastating,” she mentioned. “It means tax-paying New York Metropolis residents can have fewer choices to form town they’ve chosen to name dwelling.
“Nonetheless, UNH will proceed to help all New Yorkers, together with immigrant New Yorkers, to interact in civic life, realizing that our voices are as essential right this moment—or extra so—than they’ve ever been,” she added.
In December 2021, the New York Metropolis Council handed Native Legislation 11, generally known as Our Metropolis, Our Vote. This regulation permits New York Metropolis residents who’re in any other case certified to register beneath New York State election regulation to vote in municipal elections.
The New York Metropolis Mayor enacted it in December 2022.
Earlier than the invoice’s passage, Awawdeh mentioned practically a million New York Metropolis residents couldn’t vote in native elections on account of their citizenship standing regardless of paying taxes and being invested in and contributing to town.
Nevertheless, in January 2022, Awawdeh mentioned a gaggle of New York Republican voters, officers, and members of the New York Republican State Committee and the Republican Nationwide Committee filed a authorized problem “searching for to subvert the desire of the New York Metropolis Council and newly enfranchised New Yorkers.”
Previous to pushing for its passage, Awawdeh mentioned NYIC, assisted by a pro-bono authorized staff, performed “a rigorous authorized evaluation of Intro 1867/Native Legislation 11 and located that the invoice didn’t violate New York State’s electoral legal guidelines or its structure.”
In February 2024, the NYS Supreme Courtroom Appellate Division, Second Division, dominated in favor of the Republicans, calling the regulation unconstitutional.
Awawdeh famous that one member of the four-judge panel issued a dissenting opinion on the choice.
In March 2024, the New York Metropolis Council and attorneys with LatinoJustice PRLDEF representing the interveners appealed that call.
With Native Legislation 11 of 2022, New York Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams mentioned the Council sought “to strengthen our metropolis’s democratic course of and enhance civic engagement by enfranchising the a whole bunch of hundreds of New Yorkers who pay taxes and contribute to our communities however are unable to make their voices heard in native elections.
“From the outset, this case offered complicated authorized questions concerning the State Structure, Election Legislation, and the Municipal House Rule Legislation,” she mentioned. “We admire the bulk’s affirmation that the native regulation didn’t should be handed by referendum, however we disagree that the State Structure bars municipalities from increasing the native franchise to noncitizens, as famous by Justice Rivera in her dissent.
“Whereas we’re upset with right this moment’s total ruling, we respect the judiciary’s function in our democracy in making these selections,” she added. “The Council, as all the time, will proceed to help and shield our immigrant neighborhood members.”
