Legal immigrant rips NYC for considering voting rights for non-citizens: 'Being an American citizen is a privilege'
Mexican immigrant Mayra Flores argued elections should only be determined by American citizens 'from the top to the bottom ticket.'
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., plans to introduce a bill to cut off funding for governments that allow noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections, Fox News has learned.
Duncan's bill would follow a companion bill from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., which he announced Dec. 10 and plans to bring to the Senate floor at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Rubio announced his bill in direct response to a New York City Council measure approved last week, which allows hundreds of thousands of non-citizens living there to vote in its elections. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the measure despite acknowledging that it may face "big legal questions."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"Voting in this country is a right that should solely be limited to American citizens. Allowing non-citizens or illegal immigrants to vote, even if only in state or local elections, gives foreign nationals influence on some of the most important decisions impacting our families, our rights, and our representation in government," said Rep. Jeff Duncan in a statement. "Non-citizen voting has the potential to exacerbate the border crisis and cause a greater erosion of confidence in our electoral process. Non-citizen voting is not some sort of farfetched idea—it is currently allowed in New York, San Francisco, and even in the suburbs of our nation’s capital. I will not stand for this sort of globalist extremism that attempts to undermine what it means to be an American citizen. I am honored to work with Senator Marco Rubio on this very important effort to safeguard the security of our elections."
"No city which allows non-U.S. citizens to vote should receive U.S. government funds," Sen. Rubio said. "Next week I am going to file a bill to make that the law."
Rep. Duncan added: "Today, it’s local elections, but tomorrow, it could be state or nationwide elections. These egregious policies allow the voice of the American citizen to be diluted at the voting booth, and we must fight to protect the integrity of our elections and the value of American citizenship. Voting is the hallmark of our democracy, and non-citizen voting completely undermines election integrity."
The legislation has nearly 40 cosponsors in the U.S. House.
Fox News Andrew Michael Murray and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
More from Politics
