WASHINGTON, DC, June 13 — Surely, requiring motorists to have driver’s licenses make our roads safer. And that must be the reason Massachusetts last week decided to grant licenses to its growing numbers of resident non-citizens, becoming the 16th state in the U.S. to do so. However, the side effect of this policy allows non-citizens, including illegals, to gain the right to vote in certain local elections in some of those states. Are driver’s licenses a means of “acknowledging” illegal aliens and, ultimately, giving them the right to vote? And is the license scheme the “prelude to a kiss” of death for our democracy?
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, vetoed the bill when it reached his desk, but his state’s House and Senate, both controlled by Democrats, voted to override his veto last week. He issued a statement saying that the bill could lead to non-citizens registering to vote. As he put it, “The RMV [the state’s Registry of Motor Vehicles] does not have the expertise or ability to verify the validity of many types of documents from other countries.”
In his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States written by Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story in 1833, he stressed that “If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, the Union might itself be endangered by an influx of foreigners, hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges.”
FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, uses that quote at the top of its webpage headlined Noncitizens, Voting Violations and U.S. Elections. It’s a good read — at least for the patriots among us. It points out that:
- Voting by non-citizens, including illegal aliens, is expressly prohibited by law.
- About a dozen jurisdictions now permit non-citizens, and even illegal aliens, to vote in local elections.
- In 2014, a study estimated that approximately 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in the 2008 presidential election and that 2.2 percent voted in the 2010 midterm elections.
- The U.S. and the United Kingdom are the only democracies that do not have voter identification requirements.
- According to a 2018 survey, a large majority of Americans – including Republicans, independents, and Democrats – opposes voting by non-citizens and illegal aliens.
FAIR notes that the Real ID Act of 2005 “established standards for state-issued licenses and other identity documents – including verification of immigration status,” yet “many of the allegedly compliant states” are still handing out driver’s licenses to illegals.
In the 18 months since President Biden took office, we’ve seen millions of illegals seeking his blessing to cross our borders. It’s cause for concern that future elections, locally and nationally, may eventually be rigged.
Not all non-citizens, legal or illegal, are part of some Leftist scheme to the destroy America’s electoral process. But the facts give cause for concern.
Jessica M. Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies. She’s an expert on the impact of immigration. Prior to the Massachusetts vote last week that gave illegals a right to apply for driver’s licenses, she told the Boston Herald that the law was nonsense and that it is “asking for problems” in the future. “This will make it possible for more identity fraud, allow people to create new identities, and most importantly, allow people in this country illegally to obtain a document enabling them to live in the commonwealth as if they were there legally.”
Ironically, Mexico, whence come the hordes of illegal migrants crossing our border every day, requires voters to have an official photo ID to cast their ballots. No such identification is needed to cast a ballot in America. In fact, the U.S. and Great Britain are the only two of the world’s industrialized democracies that don’t require IDs to vote. An archived article published by the National Review just as the Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton Presidential Election campaign was getting started pointed out that “At a 2012 conference in Washington at which election officials from more than 60 countries met to observe the U.S. presidential election, most were astonished that so many U.S. states don’t require voter ID.”
As Massachusetts becomes the 16th state to provide official driver’s licenses to non-citizens, thus providing the ability to vote, it will eventually dilute the power of votes cast by eligible citizens legally entitled to vote. So, as the November elections become closer, remember your vote is either a birthright or earned by becoming a legal citizen of the United States. It’s time to demand voter ID laws to protect the power of your vote.