A non-citizen was recently indicted for having registered to vote and voting in a federal election. Voting in federal elections is perhaps one of the worst immigration violations any noncitizen can commit, even lawful permanent residents. If you vote in a federal election and are not a US citizen, you are blacklisted for life, with no waivers available. The penalties include:
If you are applying for a green card (adjustment of status) and it is discovered you registered to vote, your application for adjustment of status will be denied and you will be placed in deportation.
If you are a green card holder and are applying for naturalization, your naturalization application will be denied and you will be placed in deportation.
Not only will a non-citizen face deportation/removal, but the Trump administration may also criminally indict you so that you would first go to jail and, upon serving your sentence, be stripped of your green card and deported.
This information is important for noncitizens to understand, especially around election time, as it can be very confusing. And I blame the well-meaning progressive politicians for creating this dangerous situation for noncitizens.
As stated, only US citizens can vote in FEDERAL elections, such as for president and US senators and members of Congress. However, some jurisdictions allow noncitizens to register to vote and vote in LOCAL elections, such as for school board, mayor, etc. But many noncitizens do not understand the distinction and mistakenly vote in federal elections. Or, when renewing their driver’s license, some states have “motor-voter” applications, where the DMV registration includes a section enabling people to register to vote. Noncitizens mistakenly fill out the entire form, which may include affirmations that they are US citizens. The non-citizen may then get a ballot in the mail and think that they are somehow authorized to vote in a federal election. Later, especially with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, using AI, the Department of Homeland Security can run a check on a person’s background and, within seconds, discover they had registered to vote or voted in a federal election. Then, not only will the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) come after them, but also federal marshals and prosecutors to have them put in jail. (In the case of the indicted alien, she was charged with false claim of US citizenship, false claim of US citizenship to vote, fraudulent election conduct and voting by an alien in a federal election. So, there are lots of criminal charges if a noncitizen votes!)
Therefore, in the upcoming elections, if you are not a US citizen, make sure you do not vote in the federal elections. If you received a ballot, you may want to see an immigration attorney, because you should not be getting ballots for federal elections, and if you registered to vote and were not a US citizen, it could spell trouble or disaster.
* * *
WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com
Follow us on Facebook.com/GurfinkelLaw, YouTube: US Immigration TV and Instagram.com/gurfinkellaw
Four offices to serve you: Los Angeles; San Francisco; New York: Toll free number: 1-866-GURFINKEL (1-866-487-3465), Philippines: +632 8894-0258 or +632 8894-0239