I hope to find the time to write a more detailed statement on non-citizen voting rights, but for the moment I only have time to point out some major fallacies.
Jason Goray wrote: >As far as resident noncitizens becoming citizens (this >has been brought up a number of times), it is not as >easy of a process as some people seem to think, and >even while they are noncitizens, they still have all >the responsibilities of citizenship, and their >interest in municipal issues may well weigh the same >as mine. Amy Bergquist wrote: >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. Although I am not an attorney and cannot cite all of the legal responsibilities of American citizens I can cite two to counter the assertion that the responsibilities of legal residents and citizens are equal. 1) Legal residents are not required to perform jury duty. 2) In event of war legal residents can give up their status and return to their home countries without fear of being prosecuted for draft evasion. This is not true of American citizens as illustrated by what happened to young men who moved to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam war. Brian Hanninen wrote: >A few cities in Japan within the past 2 years have given permanent foreign >residents the right to vote in municipal elections. The primary argument for >this was that long term residents, whether citizens or noncitizens, all have >an interest in the success of their cities. The driving force behind this, >though, were foreigners who saw the unfairness in having to support city >services without having a say as to how those services were to be delivered. This is misleading. It is EXTREMELY difficult to obtain Japanese citizenship and I would suspect that allowing legal residents to vote in Japanese municipal elections is a dodge by their government to avoid granting citizenship. This is not at all similar to the situation in this country. Jason Goray wrote: >As far as resident noncitizens becoming citizens (this >has been brought up a number of times), it is not as >easy of a process as some people seem to think, and >even while they are noncitizens, they still have all >the responsibilities of citizenship, and their >interest in municipal issues may well weigh the same >as mine. Amy Bergquist wrote: >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. Having recently sponsored someone for legal residency and citizenship I can say that I am somewhat familiar with the process. It is not that difficult. The difficult part is getting into the country legally, not obtaining citizenship once your are here. As to cost, it is minimal unless you have special circumstances and need an attorney. It is certainly a faction of what many people pay to get here, often less than the airfare from asia. I will readily admit that in cities like New York and Los Angeles dealing with the INS can be much more frustrating and difficult than it is here in Minneapolis (which should be an enticement for legal residents to become citizens). I'm sure that there are many INS horror stories, but I think that they need to be balanced against the efforts and pride extended by the many people who become American citizens each year. Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ 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
