The Nov. 5 Proposed Amendment in a Christian Context
Doug Poland, partner at Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, Ruling Elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison
Wisconsin voters who cast a ballot in the General Election on November 5 will be confronted with a question on their ballot that, if it receives a majority of “yes” votes, will amend the Wisconsin Constitution. It is important for all Wisconsin voters to understand why this question has been placed on the ballot and what it will mean for our state if it receives a majority of “yes” votes. And it is important for all of us who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ to consider the purpose and potential impact of this proposed amendment in the context of our shared faith.
A Christian faith contextual perspective on the “othering” of immigrants.
Scripture has much to say about how the People of God are to treat people not from their own land. The Bible refers to these people as “aliens” or “strangers”; we call them “immigrants.” A small sample from the Old Testament includes the following:
When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow. (Psalm146:9)
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. (Zechariah 7:9-10)
Despite the prominence and frequency of the reminders throughout the Old Testament that God demands the People of Israel to welcome the stranger and the alien and to treat them as one of their own, the Bible is replete with instances in which God’s people repeatedly fail to do so. No less than Jesus had to be reminded of that mandate. In the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-37), we find Jesus himself in a foreign land, Tyre, a large Phoenician port city of Syria. In other words, Jesus was an immigrant in this story. There, we are told that while trying to remain hidden, Jesus encounters a woman who, as a Gentile of Syrophoenician origin, is the very embodiment of “other” to him. She begs him to help her daughter, who is afflicted by a demon. Instead of agreeing to heal her daughter—as he had done throughout his ministry in Galilee—he refuses and compares her to a dog.
Here, we have a rarity: Jesus “othering” a person in need of his help. But rather than retreat, she reminds him: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” This clearly startled Jesus, who replied: “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And just as we are not accustomed to thinking of Jesus as “othering” or excluding anyone, we are not accustomed to thinking of Jesus as learning from a common person. Yet here, he does. Mark’s story portrays Jesus—himself a stranger, or an alien in this land; an immigrant—as learning from a Gentile woman (a stranger) about the inclusivity of God’s love. As noted in the Africa Study Bible: “Jesus crossed boundaries, or barriers, that were not crossed in his culture… It is easy to look down on the people of other tribes or skin colors. But tribalism and racism have their roots in barriers that sinful people have deliberately created. All these divisions are not based on Scripture.”
As we approach our opportunity to vote on another proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution, I encourage you to reflect on how scripture calls us, as followers of Jesus Christ, to approach issues involving immigrants—“aliens” or “strangers” in our midst today—including how the decisions you make in casting your ballot reflect how you are called by God to discipleship in Jesus Christ, not only in serving your faith community, but in our shared public life.
The question that will appear on the November 5 ballot.
In addition to any referendum questions that appear on the ballot for the November 5 Wisconsin General Election in any particular municipality and are limited to voters in that municipality, there is one question that will appear on the ballot of every voter throughout the state. That question seeks to make unconstitutional an action that already is illegal under existing Wisconsin law: voting by people who are not citizens of the United States. The question that will appear on the November 5 ballot reads as follows:
Question: “Eligibility to vote. Shall section 1 of article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum?”
Support for the proposed constitutional amendments has been voiced by some Republican members of the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate. However, several groups have taken a position opposing the proposed amendment, including the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, and Souls to the Polls WI.
Further information on the ballot question and proposed constitutional amendment may be found here.
The issue of immigration, the rights of immigrants to the United States, and the use of immigration for political purposes is nothing new in our country. Although we often refer to our country as a nation of immigrants, the percentage of the population that is foreign-born has varied over the past 150 years. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of the U.S. population that is foreign-born as of 2022 (13.8%) is about the same or lower than it was between 1870 and 1910 (it peaked in 1890 at 14.8%). Immigration dipped dramatically after 1910, reaching a low of 4.7% of the population in 1970, before beginning to increase again to its current level. One aspect of immigration that has changed over time is that in the period between 1840 and 1920, 90% of U.S. immigrants came from Europe, whereas since 1965, 49% of U.S. immigrants have come from Latin America.
Regardless of the country of origin of immigrants to the U.S., existing Wisconsin law is clear on the rights that immigrants have when it comes to voting: they are not eligible to vote and cannot legally cast a ballot. To start, Article I, Section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution currently provides: “Every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district.” “Elector” is the term that Wisconsin law uses for what is commonly referred to as a “voter.” In other words, under the Wisconsin Constitution, non-U.S. citizens are not “qualified electors.” That is also true under Section 602 of the Wisconsin Statutes, which expressly limits the “Qualifications” to vote to “U.S. citizen[s] age 18 or older” (among other restrictions). Moreover, there are significant criminal penalties already included in our state statutes for non-U.S. citizens who vote. The Wisconsin Statutes makes it a Class 1 felony to intentionally “[v]ote[] at any election … if that person does not have the necessary elector qualifications and residence requirements.”
So, if voting by non-U.S. citizens is already prohibited by the Wisconsin Constitution and our state statutes, and it is a Class 1 felony for a non-U.S. citizen to vote in a Wisconsin election, why is the proposed constitutional amendment necessary, and why is it being proposed? The answer to the first question is obvious: the amendment is not necessary; it simply does not accomplish any legal objective to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting. Indeed, it is difficult not to see the proposed constitutional amendment—which was passed solely by the Wisconsin State Legislature and is not subject to a gubernatorial veto—as one that is designed solely for political purposes. As the Brennan Center for Justice recently explained, “[t]he scary and entirely imaginary notion that millions of noncitizens will vote in November is the most widespread rumor in our politics. It did not just emerge from the fever swamps of the dark web. Rather, it’s a conspiracy theory being pushed, it’s now clear, by leading political figures for partisan gain.”
The tactic of appealing to fears of illegal voting by immigrants appears to have several different objectives: to sow doubt about the election and its integrity ahead of the election to set the stage for post-election claims that the election was rigged; to propel voter suppression measures; and to tap into xenophobia in an attempt to divide Americans. Indeed, that last objective reflects the continuing attempt by Russia to influence U.S. elections for its own purposes. As the Christian Science Monitor reported earlier this year, “[i]n recent weeks, Russian state media and online accounts tied to the Kremlin have spread and amplified misleading and incendiary content about United States immigration and border security. The campaign seems crafted to stoke outrage and polarization before the 2024 election for the White House.”
Whether the objective is to invoke fears about non-U.S. citizens voting or the concern of immigration more broadly, anti-immigrant rhetoric and seemingly benign ballot measures targeted at immigrants not only achieve the ends of disinformation campaigns by dividing us, they put our immigrant neighbors in real danger. Most recently, we have seen how baseless internet rumors, driven by publicity-seeking “influencers” and political candidates alike, have put Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, in real physical danger, with bomb threats having shut down city and school buildings and state troopers having been sent to guard students. The proposed amendment to Wisconsin’s Constitution does not, standing alone, appear designed to inflame that type of hatred. However, when understood in the broader context of so many other anti-immigrant statements and sentiments being expressed throughout our state and nation, this proposed amendment appears to be part of an attempt to stir fear, spread harmful stereotypes, divide Wisconsinites, and pit us against one another.
In considering how to vote on November 5, we, as Christians, should consider the adequacy of the already existing laws to achieve the purported goal of the proposed amendment—making it illegal for non-U.S. citizens to vote—and how an unnecessary proposed constitutional amendment can be used to stoke fear, division, and hatred against immigrants to the U.S. simply because they chose to leave their native countries to live as our neighbors. Just as Jesus was moved by the Syrophoenecian woman to understand that human need and dignity require us to cross political, cultural, social, and national boundaries to extend mercy, compassion, and love to others, we as followers of Jesus Christ have an obligation to do the same in all aspects of our lives, including how we vote on November 5.
This article was prepared by the author in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the views of Stafford Rosenbaum LLP or Law Forward, Inc.
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