Democratic Senate candidate and Congressman Ruben Gallego has flipped his stance on voting rights for illegal migrants.
The congressman recently introduced legislation to clarify the illegality of non-citizen voting in federal elections. Yet last year, Gallego voted against a bill that similarly condemned non-citizen voting.
That D.C. act allowed noncitizens, mainly illegal immigrants, to vote in elections. It became law last February for a time, but the House quickly voted to cancel it.
Gallego’s newest bill, the Voting Clarity Act, serves as an advisory to illegal immigrants. The brief legislation is a mandate for Customs and Border Protection to inform illegal immigrants of federal law: that only citizens may vote in federal elections.
“The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide information to each alien applying for asylum under this section on the restrictions on voting and the penalties for voting unlawfully under Federal law, including under section 611 of title 18, United States Code, at the time of such application. Information under this paragraph shall be provided in a form and language that the alien can understand.”
Violation of voting law would incur a fine and/or up to one year in prison.
In a press release, Gallego said that the privilege of U.S. citizenship, voting, shouldn’t be extended to noncitizens.
“That is why it is critical that those seeking to enter the U.S. are told clearly and upfront that they cannot vote in our elections if they are not citizens,” said Gallego. “I’m proud to introduce this commonsense bill to combat misinformation about who can, and cannot vote in our federal elections.”
Gallego’s legislation portrays the Senate candidate as tough but fair on the hot topic of the border. Last week, Gallego issued an ad featuring the sheriff who denied the border crisis and rejected Arizona National Guard assistance for his county in doing so, Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway.
Every day at the border is a challenge.
I’m fighting for bipartisan solutions. Better technology. More manpower.
Hathaway has downplayed the severity of the state of the border.
“We don’t have a migrant crisis on the border. We do not need to militarize our counties and have troops come to the border,” said Hathaway. “We have certain, very vocal sheriffs in this state who are trying to fan the flames on a supposed crisis.”
Arizona border sheriff @JamesDavidHath1 has experienced the crisis at our border firsthand.
That’s why he knows we need leaders that put people over politics.
Sheriff, I’m grateful for your support and look forward to working together to find solutions for our border… pic.twitter.com/5ZJ1FM6P5v
Conversely, Gallego has admitted that the state of the border constitutes a crisis.
AZ is on the front line of the border crisis. But when I asked FEMA – which administers one of the main migrant programs – to visit AZ's border, they claimed it isn’t their “mission space.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a statement claiming the Voting Clarity Act was just a way to “pander” to Arizonans.
“Ruben Gallego has been rubber-stamping the far left’s most radical, open border policies for his entire career in Washington,” said the NRSC. “His election year pandering is a slap in the face to Arizonans who are facing the brunt of the border crisis Gallego helped create.”
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This week, 15 illegal immigrant farm workers are petitioning Congress to pass a pathway to citizenship in year-end legislation. An undisclosed number came from Arizona. The remainder came from California, Idaho, Michigan, and Georgia.
United Farm Workers (UFW), a labor union, sent this 15-member delegation to represent the interests of about 2.4 million illegal immigrant farm workers across the country.
This year’s White House holiday theme is “We the people.” As farm workers toured the White House, they reflected on these words. To us, “We the people” is a reminder that farm workers are not only supporters of this nation’s economy, but also valued members of its society. pic.twitter.com/lv1uDokWjA
The labor union was welcomed by the Biden administration. UFW Foundation CEO Diana Tellefson Torres and President Teresa Romero attended the White House reception.
UFW Foundation CEO Diana Tellefson Torres and @UFWPresident Teresa Romero are attending the White House Holiday Reception.
In a press release, Romero said that the nation’s food security relied on mass conferment of legal status to the 2.4 million UFW workers. Romero insisted that doing so would save the nation over $430 million in wages for this upcoming year.
“It’s time to stop playing politics and pass the deal we have negotiated into law,” stated Romero. Our nation’s food security and the lives of hundreds of thousands of farm workers are on the line.”
In the same press release, Torres said that Congress could thank illegal immigrant workers for their family holiday meals.
“This begs the question, will Congressmembers continue to leave the very people who nurture their families and this nation in limbo this legislative session or will they do the right thing and pass a pathway to legal status for farm workers?”
According to USDA data updated in March, around half of farm workers are illegal.
From the very start of his administration, President Joe Biden has expressed a desire to provide a pathway to citizenship. Biden’s vision would be far greater than what UFW proposed. The president has stated his intent to provide a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country currently.
Biden’s initial plan submitted to Congress last January, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, proposed an eight-year pathway: illegal immigrants receive a five-year temporary status, have a green card for three years, and then apply for citizenship. The Biden administration apparently gaveThe Washington Post a two-day advance exclusive on details of the bill.
In October, Biden reiterated his desire for the 11 million-strong pathway to citizenship. The president also revoked former President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions on Muslim and African-majority countries; restarted former President Barack Obama’s Haitian Family Reunification Parole (HFRP) Program; and issued Temporary Protected Status to Cameroonian, Ethiopian, Haitian, Somalian, South Sudanese, and Sudanese nationals.
Democrats have struggled to get the necessary votes to pass any of their desired pathways to citizenship: even for “Dreamers,” the recipients of Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Last week, the House’s New Democrat Coalition (NDC) called on its fellow members to pass Dreamer protections before session ends this month. Leading the NDC call to action were Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ-09) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24): the NDC’s immigration task force co-chairs.
“Protecting Dreamers has long been a top priority for the New Democrat Coalition. As their fate hangs in the balance, we are committed to working with our colleagues in the House and Senate to pass bipartisan legislation before the end of the year that gives Dreamers the stability and security they’ve been waiting for and that they deserve,” stated Stanton and Carbajal. “The stakes are too high for inaction.”
Several days before Stanton’s call to action, Roll Call reported that a bipartisan pathway to citizenship for Dreamers was taking shape in the Senate. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) proposed measures that would exchange citizenship for stronger border security.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
