New York Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis hailed last month’s Appellate Court decision to strike down the non-citizen voting law as a major victory for New York residents, asserting that granting voting rights to non-citizens is unconstitutional.
In an exclusive interview with LittleAfrica News, Malliotakis, who is also a plaintiff in the non-citizen voting lawsuit, stated that the law “obviously dilutes the voices of our citizens, and it’s unconstitutional. So, we’re happy that we won that lawsuit.”
In December 2021, the City Council passed legislation that would have permitted non-citizens and those with work authorization to vote in NYC municipal elections.
In January 2022, the legislation became law when Mayor Eric Adams chose not to veto it.
The measure was set to allow non-citizens in the city for at least 30 days, who have permanent resident cards, known as green cards, and the tens of thousands of migrants who illegally entered the country and were granted work authorization to vote in the 2025 election for Mayor, City Council members, borough presidents, comptroller, and public advocate.
Mayor Adams vehemently insists that all illegal migrants be granted work authorization, which would have allowed them to vote if he won the non-citizen voting lawsuit. Adams is now considering appealing the two courts’ decision and going to the Court of Appeals so illegal migrants can vote next year.
However, Adams’ non-citizen voting law does not grant voting rights for presidential or congressional federal races or state elections that select the governor, judges, and legislators.
The law could have enfranchised more than 800,000 non-citizens in city elections plus the almost 200,000 migrants that Adams first invited starting in Spring 2022 to vote in his mayoral election next year.
In June 2022, State Supreme Court Justice Ralph J. Porzio struck down the law on Staten Island, stating that it violated the State Constitution.
Justice Porzio ruled that the new law conflicted with constitutional guidelines and state law, which state that only eligible citizens can vote. He wrote that to grant non-citizens the right to vote would require a referendum.
Following the court’s decision, the mayor and City Council appealed against the law.
Last month, a state Appellate Court also ruled against the law in a 3-1 decision, finding that the law violates the New York State Constitution.
The majority opinion was authored by Appellate Judge Paul Wooten, who noted, “The plain language of this provision provides that the right to vote in ‘every election for all officers elected by the people’ is available exclusively to citizens.”
Congresswoman Malliotakis also criticized Mayor Adams’ administration’s interpretation of the Right to Shelter decree, which she argues was intended only to provide shelter to New York residents, not to illegal immigrants, thus allowing city resources to be diluted in large numbers.
“At a time when New York City is facing a housing crisis, with people struggling to pay their rents and mortgages, it’s unconscionable for the city to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to provide free housing to people who are not New Yorkers,” Malliotakis said.
She continued, “It’s obviously become unsustainable, and they’re looking to cut services across the board to pay for this mess that the mayor created with his misinterpretation.”
Adams is the only mayor who has said the 4-decades old Right to Shelter decree applies to everyone in the world. Mayors Koch, Dinkins, Guiliani, Bloomberg, and de Blasio never said the Right to Shelter applies to the whole world and that taxpayers will cover all their costs.
The congresswoman pointed out that due to large spending on migrants, the city is now slashing the budget of various departments.
She mentioned that the city government now wants the federal government to pay for the services they spent on their hotel stays and shelters instead of changing their migrant strategy because “It’s bankrupting the city.”
She denounced the situation at the southern border, where thousands of people are entering the U.S. daily, paying money to drug cartels, as she believes this practice is enriching the drug cartels.
Criticizing Adams’ approach, Malliotakis said the mayor could have introduced a bill or issued an executive order to stop preventing federal immigration authorities from detaining and deporting migrants who illegally entered the country when they are arrested for crimes in New York City.
“He [Adams] wants the city to begin cooperating with immigration authorities to deport people who commit crimes. And then he backpedals again when he gets pressure from the far left,” she remarked.
The congresswoman also criticized President Joe Biden’s approach to open border policies and reversing President Donald Trump’s approach to border closure.
“He [Biden] lifted Title 42, ended the Remain in Mexico policy, and abolished catch and release. And so, the President single-handedly created the crisis that we’re seeing today,” Malliotakis concluded.
Malliotakis highlighted that her office has been assisting people who have come to the country legally to become U.S. citizens.
So far, Congresswoman Malliotakis has helped many people get work authorizations and green cards and has also aided more than 100 individuals in obtaining their U.S. citizenship. Malliotakis has helped more legal African immigrants than any other Congress member in New York City. She has helped legal immigrants from Senegal, Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Tunisia.
