With federal and state elections about three weeks away, immigration advocates and attorneys are warning West Indians to be careful about registering to vote if they are not eligible to do so.
Why? If you seek to vote as a green-card holder, it can cause endless worries and may even lead to deportation.
And to illustrate the dangers, they are citing the case of Joseph E. Joseph, a West Indian from St. Kitts-Nevis, who is now fighting efforts by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to deport him to his homeland after he registered and voted in the 1992 presidential election. Just as interesting, Joseph, who came to the United States from the Caribbean in 1984, was the person who informed immigration authorities of what he had done when he applied for American citizenship two years ago.
"I thought it was expected of me," Joseph told a reporter about his voter registration and his decision to vote. "I felt like I was part of democracy."
But David Morriset, a Brooklyn and Harlem attorney, issued a strong warning to immigrants against following in Joseph's footsteps.
"Some people take that misguided step in registering to vote, but unless you are a citizen, you shouldn't be registering," Morriset said. "Voting goes to the heart of citizenship and people just have to be careful. They would break the law if they register as a permanent resident alien. It can come back to haunt you, ending up in deportation. It's something you simply should not do. Pure and simple."
Dr. Marco Mason, founder and president of the Caribbean-American Legal Defense Fund, was equally straightforward in his warning.
"You simply shouldn't be registering or voting if you are not a naturalized citizen of the United States," said Dr. Mason, a long standing immigration advocate. "It's the law and if you break it you can end up being forced to leave the country. We have an election coming up in November and many people, including some from the Caribbean, may be tempted to register, but it would be unwise to take that step. You can lose all the rights and privileges of being a legal permanent resident if you register."
Dr. Mason, who for years represented foreign-born residents before immigration tribunals and officials, said that registering as a green-card holder can result in criminal prosecution for making a false declaration to federal authorities and could end up being fined, sent to prison for up to a year and even deported.
"The risks are too great," he said. "Yes, if you are caught and found guilty, you have a right to appeal and should exercise that right, but you would have committed an offense."
Immigration officials have pointed out that voter registration forms specifically state that applications were restricted to American citizens.
In the West Indian's case, he said that when he met voter registration volunteers in Brooklyn, he advised them he was a green-card holder and not a citizen, but they told him he had a right to vote.
His next move was to send the application to New York City's Board of Election which in turn sent him a voter registration card.
"I assumed that every application should be checked out and I assumed that if there was something wrong, then I'd get a call," he said.
But no call came and he incorrectly concluded that he had acted appropriately.
The upshot: The father of five children is now in immigration hot water facing deportation, having failed, according to the authorities, "to satisfy the good moral character requirement under the law."
His case is before the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, agency which wants to deport him, a process Joseph, 53, is trying to curtail.
Carl Husbands, a Caribbean attorney on Brooklyn's, said that Joseph's story should "be instructive" to immigrants who were not naturalized citizens.
"It doesn't matter if you didn't have a previous criminal conviction," he said. "What's important is that you have placed yourself in a lot of trouble that could have been avoided. People simply shouldn't take the chance because you may be caught. There might be mitigating circumstances to explore during a hearing if you are found out but that's in the discretion of the immigration authorities and the courts. It is an honorable thing to vote but in federal elections such as in a presidential vote you are just not allowed to do it. We are in an environment in which the emphasis seems to be to send you out of the country. The mood has changed and people must recognize that fact."
Husbands explained, if caught, people had a right of appeal and should exercise that right. "There is a discretion which federal agencies can exercise in deciding these cases, but that's up to the authorities," Husbands declared.
