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There’s a new push out in Los Angeles to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, and the arguments are exactly what you’d expect. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) want you to believe this is about fairness, community, and giving people a voice. That sounds dreamy and all but let’s take a closer look.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, A Democratic Socialists of America member, frames much of this through his own story as the son of immigrants. His parents came to America as undocumented. Meaning, they were illegal. I love all of the language usage here. Immigrants, undocumented. Sounds like the American dream doesn’t it. Go to America for a better life. Well, they did and produced a son who is now a current member of the DSA, a city council member in Los Angeles. So there ya go. Immigrants built this country, right?
Soto-Martínez, whose parents were at one time undocumented, said his proposal would help L.A.’s immigrant communities at a time when they are under assault from the Trump administration, which has launched immigration raids around the country and sought to revoke birthright citizenship.
“After my parents immigrated here from Mexico, they worked hard, paid taxes, and raised their kids in our public schools, but for decades they had no say in the decisions shaping their community until they became citizens,” Soto-Martínez said. – LA Times
Oh yes, worked hard, paid taxes, and raised their kids in public schools. For decades. Well, of course, then, let’s give them all the rights to America. Cross the border into the United States, and you can vote now. I mean, you certainly aren’t going to get arrested.
🚨 HOLY CRAP! Los Angeles Democrat leaders are now moving to allow NONCITIZENS to vote in their elections
They aren’t even HIDING it.
Their reason? It happens ELSEWHERE already — and a vast swath of LA are noncitizens
This needs to be banned nationwide. They’re open about… pic.twitter.com/mumVcNwqKJ
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 2, 2026
So because it’s happening elsewhere, we should just keep doing it? That’s the argument? And because Los Angeles has a large noncitizen population, we just adjust the rules to match it?
Maybe instead of rewriting the rules, we should be asking how we got to the point where a “vast swath” of a major American city isn’t even made up of citizens. That’s not an accident. That’s policy. Or more accurately, the lack of one.
Which is why Trump and his administration are up against a massive, unpopular task.
Mass deportation.
It was front and center. People knew.
And still, this so-called small group of DSA is out here trying to grab another bite of the American pie with their grubby, fat hands.
So, if this proposal manages to pass, it would be the ultimate “FU” to America and Americans. With this DSA bunch, that’s a feature, not a bug.
Soto-Martinez made his bones by being a Democrat Socialist community organizer who unseated the moderate Democrat and longtime city councilman Mitch O’Farrell for the CD-13 seat. I warned years ago, when I still lived in Los Angeles, that the Democrat Socialists planned to take over the city council. With the 2022 election of Soto-Martinez and his counterparts, Eunisses Hernandez (CD-01), Ysabel Murtado (CD-14), along with the egregious Nithya Raman (CD-4 — who is also running for L.A. mayor), that takeover is almost complete. – RedState
And don’t think this is just Los Angeles.
San Francisco has already allowed noncitizens to vote in school board elections since 2016.
Oakland voters approved something similar, though it’s been slow to fully roll out. But I read where it’s still pending implementation. I mean, you can’t do it suddenly, where it might be noticed.
Maryland alone has 16 municipalities that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, according to Ballotpedia.
As of April 2026, noncitizens are now allowed to vote in local elections in Burlington, Montpelier, and Winooski, Vermont.
Washington, DC, began allowing noncitizen residents to vote in non-federal elections in 2022.
Even the White House is acknowledging that this is happening in places across the country.
At one point, Karoline Leavitt pointed directly to it, calling for legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and remove noncitizens from voter rolls.
She even named places like California and New York City, where noncitizens are already allowed to vote in local elections.
So no, this isn’t some fringe internet argument. It’s being said out loud.
And that brings up a pretty obvious question.
If noncitizens are being registered to vote, even just for local elections, what exactly is separating that from federal elections? Different ballots? Different rolls? A system that’s supposed to catch it every time?
Maybe it does work exactly as intended. Maybe every list is perfectly maintained, every ballot perfectly issued, every rule followed to the letter.
But that’s a lot of trust in a system people already don’t have much confidence in.
No wonder it’s spreading when the Democratic Socialists of America package it as hardworking, tax-paying noncitizens.
And that’s the game. It’s never one big move that people can push back on. It’s small steps. Small changes. Always framed as fair, reasonable, compassionate.
Until the line that used to matter doesn’t matter anymore. And by the time anyone decides to do something about it, it’s already too late.
Because they didn’t take the whole pie at once. Just one bite at a time.
Feature Image: AI-generated illustration.
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