Billionaire Elon Musk continues to amplify on his social media network X the claim that Democrats “won’t deport” immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border “because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point.” Musk concludes: “That simple incentive explains what seems to be insane behavior.”
U.S. Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY) replied to Musk: “I’ve now seen you say this repeatedly and it makes no sense. Even if an asylum application is granted (which now takes 5 to 7 years), you still have to apply for a green card before going through the long citizenship process. Of course you must be a citizen to vote.”
(According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) “the most common path to U.S. citizenship through naturalization is being a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years.)
I’ve now seen you say this repeatedly @elonmusk and it makes no sense.
Even if an asylum application is granted (which now takes 5 to 7 years), you still have to apply for a green card before going through the long citizenship process.
Of course you must be a citizen to vote. https://t.co/CxI8aH907V
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) February 27, 2024
[NOTE: The qualifications to vote in U.S. federal, state and local elections have not changed: 1. You must be a U.S. citizen. 2. You must meet your state’s residency requirements. 3. You must be 18 years old. 4. You must be registered to vote (the only state that does not require voter registration is North Dakota). Non-citizens cannot vote in U.S. elections.]
Goldman seems to be combatting a prevalent conservative-amplified narrative that migrants will immediately — or even in the near future — be able to impact U.S. elections with their votes, which is not true. Musk, however, doesn’t say that or put a timeframe on his assertion, saying only that “every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point.”
What might be more debatable is whether, when the long path to citizenship is accomplished by some of these current migrants, their vote is in any way assured to be a vote for future Democrats. It’s also not the case that, as Musk says, Democrats “won’t deport” migrants here illegally.
Notably, Goldman’s current position — he supported recent tougher border legislation negotiated in the Senate — doesn’t appear to show him trying to win a big migrant vote in 15 years time.
As seen below at a recent hearing on impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Goldman has accused Republicans of “sabotaging and undermining efforts to secure the border for political gain in an election year while also impeaching Homeland Security Secretary for not doing his job as he negotiates with a bipartisan group of senators on legislation to secure the border.”