LA Votes to Give Illegals the Vote

 

Los Angeles, the city that no longer loves itself, the city that is casting out the angels and replacing them with progressive demons and rabid communists, has unleashed another political inferno with their latest diabolical election scheme.

By a vote of 10 to 5, the Los Angeles City Council passed a charter amendment initiative which, if approved by the voters in November, would allow non-citizens to vote in Los Angeles’ local city and school board elections.

The Democratic Socialist of America-allied (DSA) leader of the LA City Council’s progressive phalanx, Hugo Soto-Martinez, rolled out the usual dodgy reasons proffered for this scandalous proposal.

The reasons are daunting and disturbing:

1.      “The immigrants live here, too. We can’t leave them out of the process.” Notice how the open-border advocates don’t differentiate between legal and illegal? I know many legal immigrants, and they are furious that they worked hard to get into this country, only to see lawbreakers get the same rights and privileges, including who gets elected to local office.

2.      “They pay taxes.” Do they? A friend of mine, a long-time tax preparer, often complained about the IRS credits which illegals took advantage of, as opposed to paying taxes. Sure, the illegals pay taxes on goods and services they purchase, but that doesn’t justify their lawless presence in the country.

3.      “They should have a say in how local government operates, since they are affected by the local government.” Criminals are affected by local government, too, but we don’t let them decide the punishment for their crimes. Do we allow bank robbers to have a say in how best to protect financial institutions? Do we allow someone who trespasses onto our property to dictate how to mow our lawns or landscape the property? This is madness. Instead of a vote, they deserve a veto for their presence in the country.

4.      It’s the humane thing to do.” A disregard for law and order is never humane. Such lawlessness has exacerbated human trafficking and other crimes against the innocent.

5.      “We need to stand up to President Trump’s ‘war on immigrants.’” The progressive left and their enabling politicians are waging war on immigrants, i.e., those in the country legally. They are also declaring war on the idea of citizenship, the rule of law, and national sovereignty. “No borders, no wall! Sanctuary for all!” leads to anarchy and mayhem for all. Remember Seattle’s CHAZ experiment, anyone? Come to think of it, that autonomous zone had stricter borders than the southern border under President Trump!

Of course, there’s no consideration for what the voter franchise actually means. Who are the stakeholders in a city? Should those who break the law by crossing the border without authorization stay wherever and vote?

Since when does anyone think it’s good to reward brazen lawlessness?

What is it with big cities, anyway? The politicos want the votes so bad, they will let illegals invade the country, then let them settle in their backyards to help call the shots, and the powers that be will happily push aside the law-abiding citizens who pay the bills, work the jobs, and make the cities run.

This bad idea has already been implemented in other California cities.

As far back as 2016, San Francisco allowed non-citizens to vote in school board elections. The law faced legal challenges, but the First Appellate Court of Appeals reversed lower-court injunctions against the law in 2023.

In 2022, Oakland, California, voters enacted a charter amendment to let non-citizens vote in the school board elections. Why not allow them to vote in city council elections, too, I wonder? If Oakland progressives are so determined to make everyone in the city the same, why not expand the (already bastardized) franchise to everyone else?

 In 2024, local reports indicated that the city still had not rolled out the process to allow the illegals to vote. As of 2026, nothing has changed to ensure they can exercise this new right. All virtue-signaling, perhaps?

The New York City Council tried this stunt in 2021. Thankfully, it got struck down five years later by the liberal—yes, seven Democrat appointees—State Supreme Court. They argued that the state constitution did not permit the city to expand the franchise.

Cities in Vermont and Maryland have joined the anti-citizen fun, but the majority of states require citizenship to vote in all elections, and five more plan on joining the ranks this year: Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota, and West Virginia.

Now, let’s get back to Los Angeles, the latest major city to push through this vile stupidity.

Despite the majority's madness, some sanity prevailed on the city council. Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, one of the pragmatic Democratic members of the city council, voted against this proposal, fearing that it would make it easier for federal immigration law enforcement to arrest and deport illegals in the city: “Given the dynamics that we have right now, what we’re creating is a list of individuals that could then just be the target [of] another potential federal administration.”

 She concluded the right outcome, but gave the wrong reason. The illegals still need to leave, Monica! At least Rodriguez is raising hell about the waste and lack of accountability over the homeless spending.

Councilmembers McOsker, Bob Blumenfield, John Lee, and Adrin Nazarian rejected the charter amendment, as well. As of press time, none of the dissenters have responded to my media requests. Councilman John Lee, the only non-Democrat on the city council, gave the following reason for rejecting the proposal, as LAist reported:

Councilmember John Lee voted no, expressing concerns about the cost of having non-citizens vote and the logistics of determining who is eligible. For example, how long would someone have to have lived in L.A. to vote?

“Those decisions will inevitably be viewed by some as benefitting allies or harming opponents, even if that was not the actual intent,” Lee said. “The perception alone can undermine public confidence in our elections.”

Close enough, but still missing the larger point. Not just the cost to the budget, what about the cost to the city’s self-respect? What about the sovereignty of the country? Illegals shouldn’t be in the city to begin with!

Councilwoman Imelda Padilla gave a principled reason to oppose this amendment: “I am very nervous this could potentially create a disincentive to become a legal citizen.” Yet she voted for it anyway!

Clearing aside the arguments for and against, why the incessant drive to undermine citizenship altogether?

The politically cynical reason is obvious: Democrats want easy votes, and non-citizens will vote for the politicians who gave them the vote and promise them the freebies. More importantly, though, Martinez and his DSA radicals, aggressive activists as well as his colleagues on the council, are convinced that radical “fairness,” leveling to the extreme, is the only way to go. No differences among any group. There should be no boundaries.

This erosion of citizenship is a part of the LA-DSA’s communist vision. Radical equality cannot happen as long as ethnic differences, national identities, and legal distinctions of any kind remain. Everyone is equal, and no one is illegal. It’s also easy virtue-signaling for woke white liberals without cost (to them).

American Academy of Arts and Sciences-- Meeting in Los Angeles, Pepperdine University

On January 8th, 2019, I was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion at Pepperdine University with other community activists.

The keyt question focused on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

I received word about this event from a close friend in the academic world. He's a rock-steady conservative who has faced unprecedented persecution for researching issues and publishing the evidence. His conclusions do not align with the politicized agenda of universities today.

He has since fought back against the university that slandered him and had revoked his tenure. Since then, he has kept me in the loop to fight for the best of Los Angeles County and the state of California as a whole.

The Roundtable Discussion was quite eventful.

We covered lots of topics, like how we are active in our commuities to promote what is best for everyone. The discussion leaders wanted to focus on how we engage with the greater community as a whole.

During our time together, I pointed out that the United States is not a democracy, but a Republic, in which there is majority rule based on representative government, but that everyone's rights are protected, particularly through counter-majoritarian institutions like the Electoral College and the court system.

The discussion ended up turning to the value of citizenship itself, and how it's facing massive, rapid erosion in Los Angeles County.

Check out my friend Evan Chase, the previous President of the Beach Cities Republicans, now leader of the Better Angels Foundation:

Of course, I had my Make California Great Again hat!

 At the end of the discussion, the moderators asked for our thoughts on what we discussed, and what we had learned that day.

Here are my full remarks below:

Check this out!

Joel Pollack from Breitbart News was there, too!

Final Reflection

I really liked that the discussion went away from the easy discussion on "What are you doing in your community" to "What is hurting your communities, and what are you doing about it?"

We made sure that this issue of illegal immigration received proper attention.

We had a pretty good group of people at the meeting besides the two whom I mentioned above.

There was a professor there from one of the prestigious universities in the region. She told everyone that she had been a Democrat almost all her life, but when Obama got elected, she became a Republican. She taught her courses from a distinctly conservative point of view and did not hold back her love for the United States.

Other people in the group had headed partisan clubs, and there was one lady who headed a pro-Western Civilization community dedicated to doing what is best.

There were three black women, one black man, another Hispanic gentleman there, too, who pressed the necessity of engaging young people to embrace free enterprise.

There were three people of Jewish background who were attending the event, too, so no one could claim that there was no diversity in terms of ethnic background -- and yet the most important diversity in the room had to do with diversity of thought.

My favorite point occured when one of the women in the room said that the history of the United States is about white and black America reconciling over the history of slavery. I immediately countered that, as did another member of our discussion panel. 

This "white guilt" and race card narrative has gotten so old, so trite, and it pained me to hear this from a conservative commentator in the room. The fact is that the peculiar institution was not a monolith white-on-black problem.

There were black freedmen as much as there were white freedmen up to the Civil War. Black people even owned slaves although that sordid subject is one of the third rails of academia in history departments. The professor from a local university affirmed that the history of black America in the United States is much more diverse and complex than many realize.

In fact, one of the first slaves owners in continental North America was a black man! A prince from Gambia who came to the New World as an indentured servant, Anthony Johnston not only owned slaves, but wanted to ensure a legal framework to perpetuate slavery in colonial Virginia.

"White people" should not be walking around bearing the unfettered burden of slavery. This terrible institution is a human problem, not a stricltly American or "white" problem. 

What does make America stand out, however, is that we are the one country where white men died on fields of battle to end that evil institution. No other country has that kind of record. in which citizens, especially those who had been born in other countries to help form a new one, in which white men would bleed to make all men free.

Now that's civic activism at its most extreme!

Breaking: Ventura Candidate Sues to Restore Citizen Right to Run for County Office

Press Release Jan 10th, 2018

Court battle to restore citizens right to run for the public office of elected County Sheriff.

The County of Ventura, at the expense of the taxpayers, has filed it’s reply to our brief, and we have filed our response. The case is now fully briefed.

The County, chose to not even attempt to rebut our argument that the CA Legislature has no authority to impose a ‘ballot requirement” over what is specified in our CA Constitution. The CA Constitution is quite clear in “Article 1 Section 7(b) A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens.” The CA Constitution calls for the ‘election of county sheriffs’. There are no ‘qualifications’ as to who may run as all adult citizens have the right to run for all public offices.

The County failed to even attempt to rebut our citing of three different cases that confirm that it is the right of the citizens to run for public office.

The County refused to even attempt to rebut our citing of Baca v. Los Angeles that confirmed that not even a  ballot initiative can impose a requirement on the elected office of County Sheriff.  

 The County refused to attempt to rebut our citing of the Colorado case that an elected Sheriff may not be ‘required” to be ‘certified” in way other than to be elected to be the County Sheriff and receive the compensation for that office.

 The County tries to argue that a case filed by a presumptive write-in candidate, who acted as his own attorney, who argued a vague right to have his votes be counted as a ’free speech issue”. The County’s only argument , that they make over and over… is that the County Clerk, Mark Lunn, has a legal responsibility to carry out the law. We do not disagree, we only argue that the ‘law” is unconstitutional.  We now wait on a trial date: Without wanting to seem overconfident, we are however extremely confident that we will prevail. No doubt the County will appeal to the State Supreme Court. We will prevail, the County just wishes to continue to deny the citizens their right to run fro ALL public offices and vote for the candidates of THEIR choice. The County BofS seems most willing to spend ALL of our tax dollars to pursue this.

 We expect that this ruling , s the law was Statewide, will result in the Court finding that ALL County Sheriff elections results as invalid. Expect 58 statewide County Sheriff elections with public citizens on the ballot!

 For more details refer to previous press releases, of contact me.

In Liberty,

Bruce Boyer candidate for Ventura County Sheriff

BruceBoyerforSheriff@Gmail.com

(805) 422-3005; (805) 339-9202

BruceforSheriff.org

Activists Need Fellow Warriors, Not More Cheerleaders

Someone writes to me:

Wow. Arthur, I’ve appreciated your work in organizing fellow SoCal conservatives against SB-54 this year, & there is reason to be concerned about some aspects of kids in the drag world, but what you just tweeted makes no sense. Where are you getting this rhetoric from???

— Eric Sewell- Fighting & Words (@fightinandwords) December 30, 2018

"Wow. Arthur, I’ve appreciated your work in organizing fellow SoCal conservatives against SB-54 this year, & there is reason to be concerned about some aspects of kids in the drag world ..."

Here's the thing ...

I DON'T NEED PEOPLE TO (JUST) APPRECIATE MY "WORK."

This "work" is called "the price of citizenship" or "the price of liberty." This is a calling, a mandate, if you will, for all free people who want to live in a free society. It's part of the citizenship package.

Appreciation is nice ... BUT:

I need people to work with me and the growing number of outraged American citizens and California residents who have had enough with the secular, tyrannical, regressive left.

I don't need a cheerleader. I need a fellow fighter.

I don't need a groupie. I need you to join our group.

I don't need a pew-warmer. I need a purposeful warrior.

I don't a layabout. I need a loyal laborer.

I don't need a fan or a follower. I want a fellow who will team up, join the group, and fight with me.

I think I speak well for many of the activists whom I have been honored to work with and learn from.

Final note: the highest compliments I have ever received were from individuals like Roger Hilmer, who said "I am out here recording and reporting on what my city council does because you were doing it"

Another high compliment, from Gregory Susca: "I just couldn't sit by anymore and watch Arthur put his life on the line." By the way, just before the liberal commissioner in Downey sentenced me with excessive penalties for sitting in a city council meeting, Susca again told me: "I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for you."

In turn, I wouldn't be doing what I am doing without the examples set by Robin Hvidston, Janet West, Chanell Temple, Joseph Turner and others stepping up and speaking out.

Cheerleading is nice, but not needed--and not enough. We who are activists are already doing so because we are proud of what we do to fight for our rights and our country.

So, I would appreciate it if those of you who appreciate what I am doing -- start doing what I am doing, too! Then more people can appreciate their liberties and fight for them, too!

Here's one way to start: Sign up for MassResistance:

http://www.massresistance.us/new_email_contact.shtml

Another way: sign up for We the People Rising:

https://wethepeoplerising.wordpress.com/about/

Open Borders Liberalism Hurts Immigrants, But Don't Forget the Citizens

Andrea Seastrand represented the coastal Santa Barbara County area in the early 1990s, first in the state assembly then in Congress.

 Her husband had passed away, and she took over for him in the state assembly and then got elected to Congress after Michael Huffington gave up his seat to run for the US Senate in Miracle Year 1994.

Even though she no longer works in Congress or any other elected position, she still comments on political issues throughout the state from her Central California home.

Check out her latest article, and some of my thoughts on her views:

Liberal California is trying to redefine citizenship. It's not helping immigrants

It's a worthy argument to show that Open Borders Marxism hurts immigrants--and hopefully she is referring to those individuals who have entered the country legally.

Otherwise, her misuse of the term amounts to the same political and cultural corruption which the regressive Left has fallen into.

In California, a competition has emerged among liberal politicians to determine who can enact the most extreme laws on immigration and how the state can unilaterally redefine what citizenship is. Of course the irony is that these efforts are motivated solely to further a political agenda that could end up with substantial collateral damage that hurts undocumented immigrants.

Essentially, it's about doing away with citizenship altogether. I spoke with one Assembly candidate in the Fresno area. He did stress his commitment to any kind of immigration "Reform", but then he declared his opposition to any efforts to erode and diminish citizenship entirely.

So far, so good--but immigration "reform" which promotes amnesty of any kind eroded citizenship, too, just not as quickly as Sacramento Democrats would like to accomplish.

The most brazen example of this flawed mentality was the passage of Senate Bill 54 last year, which made California a sanctuary state. This law limits what state and local law enforcement can share with federal immigration authorities for people in the country illegally who have previously committed crimes.

It's a public safety issue from beginning to middle and end. It's also about the safety of law enforcement as well as the rule of law and constitutional governance.

This increases the danger for both federal immigration authorities and communities alike, yet this doesn’t matter to proponents looking to score political points by passing this law. Local governments across California are rightfully upset about this attempt to shield people who have committed crimes while in the country illegally which is why numerous cities and counties have joined the federal government’s lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 54.

It's all about getting more voters and keeping the La Raza hatemongers happy. How I long for the times when elected officials care about their constitiuents, men and women born and naturalized in the United States. In those days, citizenship really mattered.

The false sense of security provided by the so called sanctuary state law is emblematic of how grandstanding by progressive lawmakers produces little real-world benefit and hurts the communities that they are purporting to be helping. We see another example of this in San Francisco, where its Board of Supervisors placed a measure on the ballot that was approved by voters in 2016 that allows undocumented immigrants to vote in school board elections. However, city officials have now issued warnings that voters’ information could be shared with federal authorities and could have implications for future attempts to obtain legal status.

They should not be voting in the first place, and the release of the illegal aliens' information to the federal government more than serves them right.

This sets up a difficult decision and risk of deportation for anyone looking to vote under this law. The perils of taking these actions also reinforces the reality that the state is not capable of extending citizenship rights in place of the federal government.

Seastrand misses a key point. These illegal aliens should not be in the country, and their safety should not matter to anyone. The safety of American citizens and the sanctity of the rule of law is what matters. I would like to have politicians who cared about American citizens once again. When will they step up?

But legal reality does not mean that numerous other attempts are already under way. Senate Bill 174 was recently introduced in the state Legislature and would change California’s definition of a citizen to allow undocumented immigrants the right to serve on state and local boards and commissions.

Huntington Park Illegal Aliens
on City Commissions

Big warning to the two illegal aliens sitting on city commissions in Huntington Park. The fact that State Senator Ricardo Lara is introducing such a heinous piece of legislation proves what We the People Rising had long contended in one city council meeting after another: those two illegal aliens had no right nor legal authority to sit on a city commission, let alone reside in this country without proper authorization.

In any other country, the notion of a non-citizen serving in a governmental position of great importance would be absurd, but that type of logic has no place in California’s progressive dream of a borderless society where there are no rules on who can come into the country. It is clearly an attempt to chip away at the line between citizen and non-citizen.

Thank God that one more pundit has pointed out the absolutely idiocy of Senator Ricardo Lara and his illegal alien ilk. But shock and outrage is not enough. We need the President of the United States and the United States Attorney General to crack down on these sanctuary cities and the non-citizens whom they have unjustly, immorally authorized to sit on city commissions.

This election saw non-citizens serving as election day poll workers due to a 2013 law passed by California Democrats. While at least these individuals have legal residency rights, it still presents a significant policy shift because people who cannot vote are tasked with an important role in our elections process. Given the current sentiments in Sacramento, there will certainly be a future attempt to allow undocumented immigrants to work at polling sites.

What all of this shows is the unending attempt for California to score political points for left-wing voters by attempting to make its own immigration policy and redefine citizenship. These efforts represent an agenda that is completely out of touch with everyday Californians and undermine the possibility of immigration reform at the federal level.

It is out of touch, and yet everyday Californians are still voting Democrat. Would she like to explain why they continue to vote against their best interests? Why do they continue to label themselves "Democrats" when there is nothing democratic, i.e. appealing to the will of the citizenry, in the actions of the current California Democratic Party?

Most would agree there should be sympathy for people coming to the United States to seek a better life, but it must be in rational process to ensure fairness for all those looking to immigrate here.

Fairness for those immigrating here, certainly. But what about what is fair for American citizens? What about the rights, liberties, concerns of taxpaying, law-abiding citizens and legal residents? Those immigrants played by the rules, passed all the tests, paid all the fees, and now they get stuck with the bill of paying for illegal aliens who demand citizenship and legal status to the fullest!

Until lawmakers in Sacramento acknowledge this, it leaves California to deal with the untenable position that led to foolish laws like Sanctuary State that are actually making things more unstable in communities with large numbers of undocumented immigrants. No wonder there is little choice for local governments to resist. The sooner California abandons its piecemeal approach to immigration policy, the better off its citizens and non-citizens will be.

Final Reflection

It is odious to me that pundits on both sides of the aisle get all caught up in the plight of the "undocumented". That term is so misused, since it suggests individuals who have the proper paperwork but can't find them for some reason. Those who break into this country are nothing more than illegal aliens. They are not immigrants who happen to lack the proper paperwork, but rather they have no interest in getting the credentials in the first place!

Open Border liberalism hurts immigrants, and yes it even puts illegal aliens in greater danger.

Yet I don't want their concerns to factor in at all to any politicians' final equation on what to do about open border and illegal aliens. I want the focus to fall into what is best for the United States: our citizens, our environment, our culture, our politics. 

Our language has become corrupted around this matter, too, since Seastrand includes illegal aliens in her discussion about immigrants. I never want to see that term used for anyone who is in this country illegally. Ever. That is very offensive.

Those are the concerns, the ultimate designs which deserve our attention.

No Excuses: Social Loans Exist for "I Can't Afford to Become a Citizen!"

At the Community Hispanic Association center, where people can study to learn English, register to vote, and train to become US Citizens (sometimes in that order), I found forms which offer "social loans" to help people pay for the costs of becoming a citizen:

So, the next time that an illegal alien or wannabe immigrant activist claims that the cost of citizenship is too high, just remind them that there are banks and other financial firms which offer "social loans" to help cover the processing fees!

Trump Supporters Take on Community Hispanic Association in Long Beach

After We the People Rising and LA County for Trump attended the illegal alien town hall at Iglesia Cristiana, we went over to the Community Hispanic Association on the other side of Long Beach.

A number of us suspected that State Senator Ricardo Lara was heading over there instead of the town  hall, as he still wanted to promote illegal aliens and get the DACA recipients an immediate renewal on the paperwork.

We arrived, and we found that Ricardo Lara was nowhere to be found.

Nowhere at all.

John Willis was kind of surprised to see a sign about voter registration on the door.

Does it make sense for a workforce training site to teach people how to read and write, and to prepare people for citizenship, but also to provide ways for people to register to vote, too?

Raul asked this question repeatedly, but didn't get an answer -- at all!

They got really evasive about the whole issue!

I was really troubled by the logo on the front of the building:

Is this location for Hispanics only?

I spoke to one of the staffers at the front desk. They informed me that the office is open to everyone.

Really? I saw a lot of information in Spanish besides English. There are men and women of different ethnic backgrounds who are learning English and studying to become American citizens, too, especially in the Long Beach area.

Notice also that the logo has an Aztec/Meso-American pyramid. What did the ancient Indians used to do to people at the top of those pyramids? Cut of their heads, rip out their hearts, sacrifice them to the sun god or to other heathen deities.

Does that sound like progress to you? Does that sound like tolerance and inclusiveness to you? Not to me!

Then check out some of the programs that this workplace was promoting:

Sexual health is on a downward spiral in Long Beach. The workplace center's response was to hand out flyers teaching people how to use a condom. Really? Lo and behold, pervasive sexual behavior has not stemmed the tide of STDs in the region. Senator Lara has had to host health meetings in order to

The lady in charge of the office barged in about fifteen  minutes later

Eventually, the Long Beach police showed up.

They told us to leave the building, since the owner, an arrogant liberal who gets everything she wants from mayor Robert Garcia, not only told us to leave, but called us racist.

She looked Fernando directly in the face, and called him racist.

Fernando Garcia is a racist?

Really?!

The nutty left has lost whatever is left of their minds, as they had no integrity at the outset.

Check out this video, from Robert Peete, who exposed the owner the building trying to push us out!

For some reason, we were not allowed to attend. There was a meeting taking place that day, September 30, and yet we were not allowed to attend?!

Talk about racist!

For the next fifteen minutes, we gathered outside and stumped for Trump, sending the message loud and clear to the community and Senator Lara's handlers that we were not going to tolerate the abuse of our rights or the disregard for our nation's immigration laws!

Here are some more photos of LA County for Trump/We the People Rising: