San Francisco Gives Immigrant Parents a Voice Through Noncitizen Voting Rights
February 27, 2017
The parent-led effort shows how cities can empower and protect noncitizens at a time of uncertainty for many immigrant families.
After talking to other parents at her son’s San Francisco middle school in September, Ruiyi Li was thrilled to learn that she could soon participate in the local school board elections. As a green card holder with limited English proficiency, Li was one of many noncitizen parents not allowed to vote in local elections. As a result, she was unable to participate in the decision-making processes impacting her son’s education. But a measure on the ballot last fall promised to change that by offering her the right to vote in school board elections, regardless of her citizenship status.
Li was determined to help the measure, called Proposition N, pass. She spread the word to other recent immigrant parents, campaigned with the public official who proposed the measure, and spoke as a parent representative at press conferences.
“I was very happy when this proposition came up for a vote on the ballot,” Li, a Cantonese speaker, said through a translator. “I realized that there were many people who were pushing for [immigrant] parents’ rights and standing side by side with [us],” she added.
In November, her efforts came to fruition. Voters approved Proposition N, expanding voting rights for the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education elections to include noncitizens. Now Li and other parents or guardians with visas, green cards, or without documentation can elect members who represent immigrant families like theirs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, about one third of the city’s population is foreign-born, although the school district does not collect the immigration status of parents.
