CAN NON-CITIZENS ENGAGE IN OTHER FORMS OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY?

By Peter J. Spiro, 2020, Citizenship, What Everyone Needs to Know,

Can non-citizens participate in other types of political activity?

Although voting in national elections is primarily reserved for citizens, non-citizens have alternative avenues for political influence. Green card holders in the United States have the same ability to contribute to political campaigns as citizens. Even in the aftermath of a Clinton-era controversy in which non-resident Chinese nationals routed forbidden contributions via permanent residency, a plan to abolish noncitizen political money failed. In today's US politics, most observers think that money speaks louder than individual votes. When it comes to politics, permanent residents enjoy a form of quasi-citizenship. Noncitizens accepted temporarily - even if "temporary" means for many years - contribute to political campaigns. A non-partisan case in 2011 raised the issue, with claims filed by a pair of non-immigrant workers—one a doctor, the other a lawyer; one intended to give to the Republicans, the other to the Democrats. However, a federal appeals court dismissed their allegation (in an opinion authored by current Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh) that the ban on non-immigrant political contributions violates First Amendment free-speech rights.

Even non-citizens who are forbidden from making campaign contributions may participate in politics in other ways. Non-citizens are allowed to vote in issue-oriented campaigns such as referendums. They have the option of hiring lobbyists. They may become members of political parties. They may help in political campaigns as volunteers. That may mean a student knocking on the door of Elton John, who headlined a Hillary Clinton event in 2008. Non-citizens of all kinds have First Amendment rights. Non-citizens may and do express their views on political topics and candidates.

Undocumented immigrants, too, have political clout. Undocumented immigrants staged high-profile rallies against immigration policies in the 2000s. The so-called Dreamers, noncitizens who came to the United States as minors, drew the greatest compassion. Although these people faced minimal fear of deportation under previous administrations, some have stayed vocal even under the Trump administration, when the potential of immigration enforcement being used as political revenge is far from insignificant.

Noncitizens benefit from virtual forms of representation as well. They are considered for congressional apportionment reasons; the Fourteenth Amendment states that "representatives shall be apportioned among the various States according to their relative numbers, reckoning the whole population of each State." This is because, despite the fact that they cannot vote, their existence influences how many members of Congress are assigned to each state. California, New York, and Texas gain more seats than if just residents were included; Indiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi get the flu. The Trump administration has suggested, controversially, that the 2020 census include a question on citizenship status. Even while this would not modify the apportionment procedures, many are afraid that it will discourage non-citizens in general, and illegal immigrants in particular, from responding to census surveys, lowering apportionment counts.

Civil society organisations to which noncitizens belong pursue their interests. Unions, for example, have shifted from an anti-immigrant stance to viewing immigration as a source of prosperity. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has many undocumented members and has been vocal in advocating for noncitizens' rights. Finally, non-citizens benefit from their citizen co-ethnics' political activism, gaining a form of proxy voice via individuals in their communities who have full political rights that come with citizenship.

Image Attribution:

1. Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

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