Ted Cruz Files Bill to Stop DC City Council From Using Federal Funds to Allow Illegal Immigrants to Vote

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks during the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson before the Senate Judiciary Committee on her nomination to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 22, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill that would stop the Council of the District of Columbia from using federal funds to allow noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in local elections (pdf).

“Voting is a distinct right and privilege that American citizens enjoy in the United States. It is a responsibility not to be treated lightly, and it must be protected,” Cruz wrote on Twitter. “Voters decide not only who will lead our country, our cities, and communities but also how our tax dollars should be spent and what policies we should adopt.”

Cruz went on to say that allowing noncitizens and illegal immigrants to vote in U.S. elections “opens our country up to foreign influence and allows those who are openly violating U.S. law or even working for hostile foreign governments to take advantage and direct our resources against our will.”

On Oct. 4 in a vote of 12–1, the district council approved a bill to allow noncitizens who have resided in the district for at least 30 days to vote in local elections. The bill was sent to Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser for clearance. If the mayor clears the bill, it must be forwarded to Congress for a 30-day review before it can become effective as law under the D.C. Home Rule Act.

Bowser’s office did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

Councilmembers argued that all residents, regardless of citizenship status, should be allowed to vote in community elections.

“Our immigrant neighbors of all statuses participate, contribute, and care about our community and our city. They, like all D.C. residents, deserve a right to have a say in their government,” Councilmember Charles Allen, a Democrat, said during a council meeting on Oct. 4.

“They raise families here, contribute to their community, they run businesses that people depend on, and they pay taxes that we decide how to spend,“ Allen said. ”Yet, they have no ability to elect local leaders that make decisions about their bodies, their businesses, and their tax dollars.”

Concern Over Short Residency Rule

Democrat Councilmember Mary Cheh, who dissented, said she didn’t oppose the vote based on a resident’s citizenship status but rather on the length of the residency requirement, explaining that it should be longer than 30 days.

“Could someone who took the bus from Texas, or was put on the bus from Texas or wherever, and dropped off at the vice president’s property, and then remained a resident in the District of Columbia for 30 days and was 18 years old—could that person then vote in our local elections? The answer is yes,” Cheh said.

“The concern here is not at all about whether the person is a citizen. The concern is not at all about their immigration status, whether legal or illegal. It’s asking whether somebody who is a complete stranger to our community, to our nation, and happened to be sent here on a bus from Texas and managed to remain resident for 30 days, could actually vote in our elections,“ she said. ”It goes to this point about whether there should be something more than 30 days.”

Cruz’s bill followed a resolution filed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who called the D.C. statute “insane.”

“Reminder: Washington D.C. wants to let illegal immigrants vote in elections. This is insane. I have a resolution with @LeaderMcConnel that will stop it and put every Democrat on the record about giving illegal immigrants the right to vote,” Cotton wrote on Twitter in October.

Cruz’s office did not respond to a request for comment.