Mayor John DeStefano of New Haven, Connecticut, wants the state legislature to allow the estimated 11,000 illegal aliens who live in New Haven to vote in municipal elections.
Approving that proposal would not only condone illegal behavior, but would be fundamentally unfair to citizens and legal immigrants who go through the lengthy process of obeying the law and becoming citizens. Heritage published a study in 2008 on the threat already posed by non-citizens who register and vote illegally.
It is also quite ironic coming from DeStefano, the same mayor whom the U.S. Supreme Court found engaged in blatant, undisguised racial discrimination against 20 white and Hispanic firefighters when he denied them promotions.
In Ricci v. DeStefano (2009), the Court concluded that the mayor had thrown out the results of firefighter promotion exams because these firefighters had outscored black firefighters on an exam that everyone agreed was fair and completely objective. The political machinations of DeStefano and his cohorts, as outlined by Justice Samuel Alito in his concurring opinion, describe a disgusting local political machine headed by a mayor who was willing to do anything to stay in office, even if it meant engaging in outright racial discrimination for crass political reasons.
As Alito described, “city officials worked behind the scenes to sabotage the promotional examinations because they knew that, were the exams certified, the Mayor would incur the wrath of [Reverend Boise] Kimber and other influential leaders of New Haven’s African-American community.” Kimber had in the past threatened race riots during the murder trial of a black man arrested for killing a “white Yalie Christian Prince” and was constantly raising the racism claim when anyone questioned his actions.
Yet DeStefano continued a long association with this race monger through seven terms, even testifying as a character witness when the reverend was “convicted for stealing prepaid funeral expenses from an elderly woman and then lying about the matter under oath.” Another individual with “strong ties to the Mayor’s office” called the qualified firefighters who wanted the test results certified “Klansmen” at a public hearing.
DeStefano has never apologized for his actions, his disreputable associations, or his expensive six-year losing battle (that New Haven taxpayers paid for) to keep qualified public servants from receiving the promotions they deserved for the basest of reasons. Now DeStefano wants to give individuals who break our laws and are here illegally the right to vote for him for mayor.
DeStefano dresses up his proposal in noble-sounding words, saying he wants to create a more engaged community. But given his prior behavior, it is hard to believe that this is anything other than an attempt to get another voting bloc in his corner, even if it means supporting illegal behavior. But then, what’s that compared to discriminating on the basis of race to stay in office?
