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Staten Island Advance: Pro-immigrant rally held Tuesday outside Supreme Court as suit aims to block new voting rights

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AALDEF staff and interns joined community activists in Staten Island to support the passage of Local Law 11 to allow green card holders and people with work authorization to vote in municipal elections. Credit: AALDEF.

By Kyle Lawson/Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— As it stands, 800,000 New York City residents who are not U.S. citizens, but authorized to live and work in the U.S., will be allowed to vote in next year’s municipal elections.

On Tuesday, proceedings surrounding a lawsuit filed by New York Republicans aimed at blocking that from happening began in Supreme court, St. George.

At the same time, in front of the courthouse, immigration rights activists, politicians and DACA recipients gathered to protest the lawsuit.

“[The city] doesn’t ask us our immigration status anytime there is a crisis and we need to step up as New Yorkers,” shouted community activist and attorney Hina Naveed, who also worked as a front-line registered nurse during the pandemic. “So, New York City should not hold our citizenship status as a barrier to our voices and our votes counting at the polls.”

Also showing their support outside the courthouse Tuesday were members of New York Immigration Coalition, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

A statement posted later on Twitter by the AALDEF read in part, “immigrants get the job done and deserve a voice in our democracy.”

In January, the city’s Department of Immigration Affairs issued a statement saying the bill “is a historic step in the right direction toward affirming the enormous contributions of immigrants in New York City and nationally.”