Voting Becomes Criminal Act for Some Immigrants

For many people in the United States, voting is an important act or felt to be part of their civic duty. But for many immigrants, voting can become a criminal act. An example being Joseph E. Joseph, a legal permanent resident from St. Kitts, who is now facing deportation for voting in every presidential election since 1992, according to the New York Times.
Only citizens are allowed to vote in national and statewide elections in the United States. Immigrants, even if granted permanent residency, may be "expelled from the country if the authorities discover that they have even registered to vote," reports the New York Times. But they [registration volunteers in 1992] said that if I'm paying taxes, I have a right to vote," Joseph said.
Citizenship and Immigration Services officers are "required to evalute the circumstances of the violation, as well as the 'moral character' of the applicant, and decide whether the law has been intentionally violated," states the article. "Whether or not making false claims of U.S. citizen was intentional or not, you nonetheless voted in an election in violation of the law. Therefore you failed to satisfy the good moral character requirement under the law," said Joseph's rejection letter.
It is understandable that citizenship be needed in order to vote in the United States, however, a system must be passed that will allow people legally residing in the U.S. to vote. Many immigrants consider the U.S. their home and believe they should be able to vote. If they are paying taxes, have a clean criminal record, and are contributing to the nation's economy and society, then they should be able to vote.
After living in the United States for many years, many immigrants feel it is also their responsibility to contribute to the nation by voting, just as U.S. citizens do. And for those immigrants who have children born in the U.S., they feel this need even more. Immigrants, just as any U.S. citizen parents, want their children to have a good life in the place they live in. So they register to vote in hopes of making a positive difference in their children's future.
A change must also be made to the "good moral character requirement" referred to in Joseph's rejection letter. He was not trying to harm the United States by voting in presidential elections. On the contrary, he had all of the best intentions in what he believed was a positive difference in the life of his children, his own, and for others in the country. It should not be a crime to want to be an active member of our society and democracy, even if the person is not a U.S. citizen. Some sort of legal residency should be required, but it should not be limited to citizenship.