Black Americans Sue New York City for 'Racially Discriminatory' Policy Allowing Foreign Nationals to Vote

Black Americans in New York City, New York, have filed a lawsuit against the city for giving municipal voting rights to nearly a million foreign nationals.

As Breitbart News has chronicled, Democrats on the 51-member New York City Council approved a plan last month that allows more than 800,000 foreign nationals with green cards, visas, and work permits the opportunity to vote in citywide elections so long as they have resided in the city for at least 30 consecutive days.

Now, four black Americans and New York City residents — Phyllis Coachman, Deroy Murdock, Katherine James, and Anthony Gilhuys — have filed suit with the help of the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF).

Their lawsuit accuses the city’s Board of Elections of violating the 15th Amendment by imposing a “racially discriminatory” policy that is set to drastically dilute the voting power of American citizens in New York City, and specifically of black Americans.

“All of the relevant indicia demonstrate that a racially discriminatory purpose was a motivating factor in the passage of the Foreign Citizen Voting Bill,” the lawsuit states:

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. These concerns were raised by Council Members. [Emphasis added]

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. [Emphasis added]

The lawsuit cites United States Census Bureau data which shows how the policy will shift voting power from New York City’s dwindling black American population toward its booming foreign-born population.

“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 groups,” a PILF news release states. “Of the approximately 1 million foreign nationals in New York City, approximately 488,000 are Hispanic and 343,000 are Asian.”

Councilman Rev. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) had warned that the policy would dilute the votes of the city’s citizens while shifting electoral power to foreign nationals with ties to the United Nations, Wall Street, and the global financial system.

This is the second lawsuit to drop against the policy. Last month, the New York State Republican Party, naturalized American citizens, and a Democrat city councilman filed a lawsuit against New York City, alleging the policy is in violation of the state’s constitution.

The case is Coachman v. New York City Board of Elections in the Supreme Court of New York.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here. 

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