Non-Citizens Rally to Get Voting Rights in New York City: ‘No Taxation Without Representation’

A group of non-citizens and city councilmembers rallied together outside City Hall to demand voting rights in local elections for all eligible legal immigrants in New York City, New York.

During a rally held by the newly formed “Our City, Our Vote” group — funded by United Neighborhood Houses, which is funded by The Clark Foundation and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund — non-citizens chanted, “No taxation without representation” in support of Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez legislation to give non-citizens the right to vote in local elections.

Anywhere between 500,000 and one million non-citizens in New York City would be granted the right to vote in local elections if the legislation is approved by the city’s 51-member city council.

Non-citizens held signs reading “Every Vote Counts” in English and Spanish as well as “New Yorkers for Immigrant Justice.”

Conservative Democrat Robert Holden told the Brooklyn Eagle he would be opposing the legislation, saying the right to vote must be solely reserved for American citizens.

Holden said in a statement:

We’re now inviting foreign influence into elections in a city where we’ve seen local races be decided by very narrow margins. I believe that citizens are the only people who should have the right to vote.

Though Mayor Bill de Blasio has yet to officially endorse the legislation, 27 Democrat councilmembers have committed their support.

Similar to New York City Democrats, elected Democrats in the state’s legislature are pushing a measure that would automatically register to vote all eligible state residents who apply for driver’s licenses unless they check an “opt-out” box.

As of this year, illegal aliens are able to obtain driver’s licenses in New York, indicating that illegal aliens and non-citizens will only be excluded from the state voter rolls if they check the opt-out box before applying for a license.

Elected Democrats have argued there are safeguards in the legislation like mandating non-citizens and illegal aliens check the opt-out box.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.