By way of introduction and in response to Michael Hohmann�s question, �BTW, do we still teach citizenship in jr/sr high school in Mpls.?�, the answer is yes. I teach Civics, which is a required 9th grade course at South High School (and presumably at all the other high schools in MPS). I also teach Civics for English Language Learners � these are recent immigrants who are not ready to be in mainstream social studies classes.
I have found the discussion of citizenship and voting quite interesting. I�d like to offer a few observations and questions. First I want to address the issues of voluntary non-citizenship and voluntary immigration: Michael Hohmann argues, �If permanent residents (non-citizens) want to vote-- even in local elections, let them become citizens�. Most of my students and their families are not yet eligible to become citizens � they have not been in the country long enough. When surveyed, all but 4 of my ELL Civics students said that they want to become US citizens. As others on the list have noted, it is expensive to become a citizen, and many immigrant families are working at low-paying jobs and may have difficulty coming up with the application fee or may not be able to attend the free ESL and citizenship classes available in the community because of work and family obligations. Michael Atherton writes, �These people come here with the understanding that they will not the same rights as citizens and they do so of their own free will.� It is important to keep in mind that many of the immigrants here in Minneapolis did not leave their home countries �of their own free will.� Minneapolis is host to many refugees, particularly from Somalia and Ethiopia, and (by definition) they fled their home countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution. Next, let�s talk about the status of non-citizens: Michael Atherton continues, �Their interests do not have equal weight with yours. The rights and responsibilities of citizens and aliens are not equal.� Michael is correct when talking about rights. Non- citizens cannot leave the United States and re-enter the country whenever they please (particularly refugees, who generally do not have a passport from any country). They have fewer rights in court, and they can be deported for breaking laws. They can�t vote, and therefore they don�t have the clout to influence elected officials. So non- citizens have fewer rights than citizens. We would expect that they also would have fewer responsibilities, right? Well, let�s see. What obligations do citizens have? They have to pay taxes, obey the law, and take care of their children. Non-citizens have to do all of those things, too. What about draft registration? According to the Selective Service System: �Noncitizens who are not required to register with Selective Service include men who are in the U.S. on student or visitor visas, and men who are part of a diplomatic or trade mission and their families. Almost all other male noncitizens are required to register, including illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, and refugees.� So it seems that non-citizens have the same responsibilities and fewer rights. Jim Graham argues, �No, I think Minneapolis should continue to restrict voting to citizens, it is really the only privilege which we get for that citizenship.� Actually, citizens have many more privileges than non-citizens, particularly in the wake of the USA PATRIOT Act. Third, I want to talk about the �price of citizenship�: Michael Hohmann states, �Citizenship and the associated right-to-vote imply a degree of allegiance to our country and the fundamental principles that underlie our republic, i.e. the Bill of Rights and the Constitution for starters.� I am a citizen of the United States and nobody has ever required me to demonstrate any allegiance to the country or its fundamental principles. It seems we only demand this price of immigrants who want to become naturalized citizens. Jim Graham talks about the role of the military and �the price of citizenship�: �People holding such views have never �paid� anything for that right to vote, and that citizenship, so it is a meaningless thing. At the same time I seem to never hear such �ideas� coming from veterans who at least were willing to pay the ultimate price for those rights and that citizenship.� Please keep in mind that the US armed forces are open to non-citizens, and currently more than 15,000 members of the US armed forces are not US citizens. There is no clear connection between military service and citizenship in the United States. So when Jim Mork argues, �Now, regarding non-citizens voting, what would be the arguments AGAINST it? Well, I can see that on territorial defense, we might not want foreigners affecting our policy,� he seems to be ignoring the important role of non-citizens in providing for territorial defense (not to mention the fact that they can be drafted). And finally, I�d like to talk about the proposal in the State Legislature: JIM GRAHAM calls legislators from Minneapolis �out to lunch radicals� for proposing this legislation. Is it really a radical proposal to amend our State Constitution to _allow_ localities to decide to give non-citizens the right to vote? The legislation, as I understand it, would not give non-citizens the vote, it would just open the door for localities to consider the possibility. That doesn�t really seem to harm anyone � it just allows localities to pursue the option if they want. In fact, many conservatives favor local control over governmental affairs, and this legislation would end state restrictions on localities such as Minneapolis. I realize this isn�t anyone�s primary concern regarding this issue, but if voting rights were extended to non-citizens in Minneapolis, it would make it much easier and exciting to teach civics/citizenship to my ELL students. As non-citizens, they are also not allowed to be student observers on Election Day, and programs pushed by the CFL like �Kids Voting� (encouraging kids to take their parents to the polls on Election Day) are not very meaningful. As things stand, learning about the candidates and the issues is a fairly empty exercise because most of their relatives are not able to vote or even watch the actual process on Election Day. At least 22% of all students in the Minneapolis Public Schools are English Language Learners, many of whom are probably non-citizens. Should their parents and families have some voice in the school system and how it is run? Is it fair that the families of close to 1 in 5 students in our classrooms cannot influence the major policies that affect them every day because they cannot vote for school board candidates? -Amy Bergquist 9/8 (Standish) _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
