Black Americans Sue NYC for Diluting Voting Rights by Granting Noncitizens a Vote

Black Americans have filed a lawsuit against the city of New York for giving voting rights to close to one million foreign nationals.

New York City's 51 member Council approved last month plans to allow roughly 800,000 foreign nationals with green cards, visas, or work permits, to vote in citywide elections, so long as they have resided in the city for at least 30 consecutive days.

"All of the relevant indicia demonstrate that a racially discriminatory purpose was a motivating factor in the passage of the Foreign Citizen Voting Bill," according to the lawsuit filed by four Black Americans, Phyllis Coachman, Deroy Murdock, Katherine James, and Anthony Gilhuys, Breitbart reported.

Their lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), accuses the city's Board of Elections of violating the 15th Amendment because it dilutes the voting power of American citizens in New York City, specifically Black Americans.

"The New York City Council was aware of the discriminatory impact that the Foreign Citizen Voting Bill would have on the voting strength of Black voters," the lawsuit read. "These concerns were raised by Council Members. Despite this discriminatory impact and the knowledge that the New York City Council was without legal authority to grant foreign citizens the right to vote, the Council moved forward and passed the bill."

One key fact mentioned in the lawsuit cites data from the United States Census Bureau, which shows the voting power would shift from the city's dwindling Black population to foreign-born residents.

Additionally, a PILF press release alleged, "the sponsors of the bill are aware of this racial composition and passed the bill with the intent to strengthen the power of Hispanic and Asian powers and reduce the power of other racial group. Of the approximately 1 million foreign nationals in New York City, approximately 488,000 are Hispanic and 343,000 are Asian."

The Black Americans case, Coachman v. New York City Board of Elections, is awaiting to be heard.

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