Dems want to include noncitizens
Undocumented immigrants and other noncitizens could soon play a larger role in shaping the policies that become the platform of the California Democratic Party.
State lawmakers from San Francisco proposed legislation Friday that would allow noncitizens to participate in Democratic Party politics as state convention delegates and county committee leaders.
State law now limits noncitizens’ ability to participate in party politics. Supporters of the new proposal noted that Democrats dominate California politics, and said it was important for noncitizens to have a say in party policymaking.
“We need to continue to send a very, very loud message that we are ... going to embrace and uplift and support all American immigrant neighbors,” state Sen. Scott Wiener, DSan Francisco, said at a news conference at which he and other Democrats unveiled his bill, SB288.
He said it would counter Trump administration policies that have “caused enormous fear and anxiety” among many immigrants.
The bill would apply only to leadership roles and delegate positions in the Democratic Party. It would not apply to California’s Republican Party, whose leaders have not commented on the bill.
Assemblyman David Chiu, DSan Francisco, a coauthor of the bill, said the proposal reflects Democrats’ goal of a state “where human beings are not considered illegal” and immigrants are welcomed into the political system.
State law now effectively bars noncitizens from running for party county central committees because members must be registered Democrats. NonU.S. citizens cannot register to vote.
Wiener said his proposal was inspired by young undocumented immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. They were brought to the U.S. as children and are temporarily protected from deportation and allowed to work and go to public school.
Wiener said DACA recipients have led the push for the state party to change its rules. Some were barred from obtaining floor credentials at the state party’s recent convention in San Francisco, he said.
He said the bill would allow Sarah Souza, a DACA recipient who was appointed to a county party committee seat in San Francisco over the winter, to run to keep her post next year.
Bahlam Vigil, 20, a college student, said he supports the change because it would allow undocumented immigrants such as his parents to feel more comfortable participating in politics.
“I’ve tried so many times to get them involved with the Democrats,” he said. “They felt like they didn’t truly belong.”
Vigil, a U.S. citizen born in San Francisco, said party leaders often think they know how to help immigrants, but lack the firsthand knowledge they need.
“Instead of just assuming what the community needs,” he said, noncitizens “can just tell us at the table, with their vote, how they want to be represented and the type of policies that they want to see.”