Decades in America, still denied: Immigrant family fights for voting rights
NEW YORK - Diana Woojung Park and her family immigrated from Korea when she was one year old. It's been decades and her parents cannot vote.
She and other immigrant advocates are hoping a New York State Supreme Court Appellate Judge will reinstate a city law allowing noncitizens to vote in city elections.
City Council passed the law in 2021 giving about 900,000 legal permanent residents as well as people authorized to work in the United States the right to vote in local elections.
Republican Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella along with some Republicans on the state and federal level sued the city to prevent the law from being enacted and a Staten Island judge ruled in their favor.
Now the city is fighting in the appellate court to try and overturn the judge’s ruling.
Cesar Ruiz is with LatinoJustice PRLDEF. "They've served on the front lines during the pandemic, and they continue to serve our communities day in and day out. Plain and frankly, they deserve the opportunity to vote in local elections," Ruiz said.
Susan Stamler is with United Neighborhood Houses. "We believe in our civic duty to participate in a democratic society and one that includes voting," Stamler said.
Fossella says he and some fellow Republicans are also concerned about how the voting law could eventually impact migrants and asylum seekers currently flooding into New York.
"What’s to stop migrants from being allowed to vote, and if local elections are determined in some cases by a few hundred votes, thousands of people who shouldn’t vote to begin with can alter the outcome of an election," Fossella said.
As for a resolution in this case, the judge will be expected to issue a ruling in a few months.
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