Dear Atty. Lou,
I have a problem in regards to my husband’s situation. We are both residing in the East Coast. I am a US citizen now and my husband is still a permanent resident or a green card holder. He made a major mistake by voting in one of the local elections. He was not supposed to vote because he is not a citizen yet.
He now wants to become a US citizen but his lawyer said that he could no longer become one because his name will show that he voted and will be subject to deportation. My question to you is if there is any possibility that he will be able to apply for citizenship and he will not be caught that he voted. If he applies for citizenship, will he really be deported?
I wrote a letter to the Board of Elections where he registered to vote asking them if he can clear his name from the voters’ list because he did not know that he cannot vote just yet. I did not get a response since I sent the letter one year ago. Please help!
ND
Dear ND,
Generally, unlawful voting by a US citizen is a ground for inadmissibility and for removal/deportation. This particular provision of the law was put in place in 1996 by the enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The prohibition refers to voting after September 1996.
The provision against unlawful voting refers to any federal, state or local elections. There is no express requirement that the non citizen actually knew of the violation of the voting requirement. However, the Department of State issued guidance, stating that the non citizen may not be held inadmissible if the alien demonstrates to the satisfaction of the consular officer that he did not “knowingly vote in violation of the rule.”
Another exception to the unlawful voting is that if the non citizen resided in the US before age 16, each parent was a US citizen and the non citizen reasonable believed he was a US citizen.
There are also limited municipalities in states such as those municipalities in Maryland and Massachusetts that actually allows non citizen to vote.
In the case of your husband, you mentioned that he voted in a local election. You may want to determine whether the municipality where he voted allows non citizens to vote so he will not be guilty of unlawful voting. Also, you did not mention when your husband received his green card status. If he was living in the US before age 16 and each of his parent are US citizens, he must show proof that he “reasonably believed” that he was a US citizen.
If none of the above exceptions apply to him and he engaged in unlawful voting, then he will risk being put in removal proceedings if he tries to apply for his citizenship. He may also be potentially liable for a criminal offense in addition to his removal charges before the immigration court.
I hope this information is helpful.
Atty. Lou
(Lourdes Santos Tancinco Esq .is a partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, a Professional Law Corp. Her office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Suite 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 415 397 0808, email at law@tancinco.com. The content provided in this column is solely for informational purposes only and do not create a lawyer-client relationship. It should not be relied as legal advice. This column does not disclose any confidential or classified information acquired in her capacity as legal counsel. Consult with an attorney before deciding on a course of action. You may submit questions to law@tancinco.com)
