Not to be a Negative Nancy, or a Maudlin Maeve, but I want to begin this column by telling you some of the most frustrating things about being an immigrant in America. These are separate from the whole nervous breakdown that is the current administration.
One thing that drives me crazy: food that I expected to be savory actually being sweet, like those terrible dishes at Thanksgiving with marshmallows in them. Then there is the New York City subway system, constantly reminding me of my ex-boyfriend—like him, it’s too hot for its own good, it frequently breaks down, and I keep giving it chances when I know I should just walk.
But my number-one frustration about living here is being unable to vote.
I’ve lived in this country for almost five years but am nowhere close to citizenship. Even legal permanent residents, or green card holders, can vote in local elections only in certain municipalities in three states. One of the most significant privileges of democracy in the United States is the right to vote, and it’s reserved practically exclusively for citizens. Yikes!
I can’t vote in my native Ireland either; Irish citizens forfeit this right unless they intend to return within eighteen months. Asking an emigrant if they will ever come home is a loaded question, and an emotional one too. Many of us cannot answer.
Americans don’t need to worry about any of this. No matter how long they live abroad, whether or not they plan to return, whether they’ve voted before, or maintain a residence here or not, Americans can vote. Perhaps that very significance—the huge weight given to the right to vote—explains why the worst among us want to snatch it away.
The widespread practice in the United States of limiting and in some cases banning the voting rights of people who have committed felonies is out of step with most of the rest of the world. The gerrymandering and other discriminatory ways of repressing votes in this country, particularly the votes of black and brown people, is all the more extraordinary when you consider that some people who have never even lived in the country can vote. You read correctly: Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia allow the children of former residents, people who have never even resided in the United States, to vote there.
Trump, who’s alleged widespread fraud by “those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal,” as well as by dead people, whipped up a commision to investigate. It disbanded in January, having found no evidence of significant fraud. But immigrants were smeared and the lie lingers, with a recent HuffPost/YouGov survey revealing that 28 percent of Americans said they believed between three million and five million people voted illegally in 2016.
Immigrants’ right to vote is not a real problem for the U.S. government. The lack of clarity, and sometimes misleading laws, however, does sometimes have a devastating impact on immigrants.
In August of last year, a sad scene played out in the Kansas City Airport. Weeping family members stood watching as Margarita Fitzpatrick, a grandmother and green card holder, was deported to her native Peru. Fitzpatrick left Peru with her three daughters in 2001 and legally came to the United States. In 2005, she applied to renew her driver’s license. A clerk improperly asked Fitzpatrick if she wanted to register to vote, saying “it’s up to you” whether to do so. She took the official’s answer as permission and went ahead and filled out the form, unknowingly making an unlawful claim to be a U.S. citizen.
Immigrants’ right to vote is not a real problem for the U.S. government.
Two years later, when Fitzpatrick applied to become a citizen, she told her immigration officer that she had twice voted, and learned that those votes had been illegal. That’s when the government began deportation proceedings.
Just today, as I was writing this, I got an email with the subject line “TGIF” and mistakenly thought, wow, it’s the weekend already, even though it was actually Wednesday. My point is, it’s easy to make mistakes. We all do it. But in this country, immigrants are held to a higher standard—sometimes fair, often not. Immigrants have fewer rights, but get blamed for everything.
And what can we do? Obama says, “Don’t boo—vote.” But I don’t have that option. So here I am, on the sidelines, and all I can do is boo. ω