Politcal Apartheid in CA

According to a UCLA published report, we are living in 'political apartheid'

The author's point is that because there are so many 'non-citizens' in CA that can't vote, we are failing as a democracy.

According to study author and UCLA law lecturer Joaquin Avila, a de facto political apartheid will exist in California if steps are not taken to include more than 4.6 million non‑citizen adults in the voting process.

"The new census data shows that many communities in California have significant Latino non-citizen populations who do not have the right to vote," said Avila, a voting rights expert and former president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "The continued political exclusion of this non-citizen population will have negative repercussions on community grass-roots efforts to promote a more inclusive and cohesive society."

In California, noncitizens make up nearly 19 percent of the adult population, or more than 4.6 million adults, according to the study. Three million of these noncitizens are Latinos.

In 12 cities, noncitizens make up the majority of adults. These cities include Santa Ana, Bell Gardens and San Joaquin in Fresno County. In Los Angeles, which is the largest city in the state, non-citizen adults comprise about one-third of the population.

Again I ask, am I the only one that sees a problem with this? We have a way of making sure they are represented: come to the county legally and work for citizenship. After you earn citizenship...you get to vote! Aye carumba.

The opinion piece, oops..sorry, 'study', fails to make a deliniation between legal and illegal immigrants, lumping them all into the 'non-citizen' category.

He doesn't address the implications of extending voting rights to people who deliberately performed an illegal act in entering the country. He fails to recognize that citizenship has responsibilities attached, as well as rights. He neglects to explore what might be the consequences of allowing non-citizens to vote.

All this political activist...oops...sorry, 'scholar' says is that being a non-citizen makes it hard to vote. Wow. Good to see tax dollars playing this guys salary.

He''s right, next time there is an election in New York, all the tourists are invited to the polls! After all, they''re in our country and are non-citizens right?

You know, I consider myself a liberal, but sometimes, the lengths the bleeding hearts side of the political spectrum will go to amazes me.

Become a citizen, get your vote. Simple equation. Not a simple process, to be sure, but I''m not sure I want it to be.

There is no fallacy in his argument. There is, however, major problems with his conclusion.

As most reasonable people believe, the cost of the right to vote is paying your taxes.

Good to see tax dollars playing this guys salary.

I have no problem with that. At least he is addressing a serious issue. He just leans towards the wrong solution.

If we legalize that large section of Latino''s and allow them to vote, that would be a huge disaster. They must also pay taxes and pay for medical benefits. Those have to come first before drivers licenses and voting.

I think legalizing them would solve some serious issues since it would be much easier to seperate the workers from the free loaders and criminals. With either citizenship or some other form of legal status comes responsibility. If they cant handle the responsibility... kick em out! I bet a few of them dont realize what they are getting into when they want to earn the right to live in this country. Millions of people living in limbo is crippling CA.

As most reasonable people believe, the cost of the right to vote is paying your taxes.

So I guess felons don''t have to pay taxes anymore? Quick, where is the closest liquor store!

I think legalizing them would solve some serious issues since it would be much easier to seperate the workers from the free loaders and criminals.

Um, aren''t a lot of them in this country illegally already, making them criminals?