The New York City Municipal Council voted this Thursday in favor of a bill that grants the right to vote in local elections (but not state or federal) to immigrants with a
green card
or a visa that includes a
residence
permit. job
The Municipal Council voted 33 to 14, with two abstentions, in favor of the legislation.
This is estimated to benefit
some 800,000 immigrants.
New York City is home to approximately one million immigrants with papers and those over 18, which represents 20% of registered voters, but it is not yet clear how many could vote thanks to this measure, according to the promoter of the bill. , Democratic Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez.
Those eligible to vote include beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), according to The Washington Post.
Rodriguez added on the social network Twitter that almost 400,000 non-residents are from Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago.
"In addition, more than 58,000 (4.8%) of New York have Africa as their country of origin and many of them could vote immediately after the passage of this bill," he said.
Voters, however, will not be able to choose a president or members of Congress, nor in state elections to choose a governor, judges and legislators.
People visit a polling place at a YMCA on Election Day, November 2, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Those who are in the country illegally cannot vote.
If they violate this measure, they could face fines of up to $ 500 and a year in jail.
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New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has expressed concern about the legality and appropriateness of this measure.
"I think there are still some pending legal questions about the authority of the city against the State in this matter
, but I respect the Municipal Council
," he said, according to the New York affiliate of our sister network NBC News.
"I think there are people in our society who go to bed with so much fear of immigrants that they try to argue anyway to disqualify their right to elect their local leaders," said Rodríguez, a native of the Dominican Republic, who was unable to vote until He became an American citizen.