Do you think granting some form of “second class” or “provisional” citizenship for 10 years would be constitutional?
Yes, I am aware that citizens can lose their voting rights for being convicted of a felony (that varies by State law), but in those examples the citizen had the voting right and lost it for misconduct while a citizen. It seems to me that voting is a right of a citizen, not a privilege, and should only be restricted for conduct once you are a citizen. I’m not so sure there is a constitutional way for the US to make them a citizen minus voting rights from the get go. Voting is a fundamental right of citizenship.
Of course, you could address this by making the “path to citizenship” through DACA include a 10 year waiting period within the country with restrictions (for instance, no felony convictions) and requirements like continued registration, etc. before being able to obtain citizenship.
you have a much deeper understanding of the constitutionality of some kind of voting restriction, however as you also pointed out - people can and do lose their voting rights all the time, so clearly there is precedent for punitive restrictions of this right which are not applied to other rights such as free speech, due process etc. so I think an argument can and should be made that any daca deal short circuits the plan to import a dependable voting bloc for any political ideology - which it seems plain to see that the daca + chain migration + no foreseeable end to either was intended to do exactly that.
you actually have changed my mind on whether it should be a restriction on voting once they are citizens. i do think the pathway should be pretty narrow and full of filters in order to take advantage of this unprecedented, unusual and frankly quite magnanimous opportunity they will have - particularly given the fact that emotion aside, they are in fact here illegally and there is no legal obligation to naturalize them at all. moral, ethical and practical obligations? i think so - but thats because we've sat by and allowed this mess to happen. progressives needed a foreign born voting bloc to lubricate their more socialist anti-American agendas, and neocons valued the cheap labor this group of people provided. neither "side" has their best interest at heart and both are presenting false altruism.
clearly, we would be wrong and trump would create a massive pr disaster and play into the hands of 'racist dictator' narratives by rounding up actual hard working and productive members of this society and dumping them in a shithole country.
having said that, here's my hipshot layman fantasy plan that if i had trump's ear, I would recommend...
1. provide a narrower than normal pathway to citizenship - highly restrictive and highly punitive for criminal behavior. a filter which clearly creates outlaws out of people who try to remain incognito and grants something like a green card to the people who buy in to the pathway system.
2. there should be a penalty on the money being sent back to mexico until they complete their pathway to citizenship. this money should fund the wall debt.
3. the pathway to citizenship needs to require assimilation and activities conducive to assimilation. volunteer community work, basic understanding of english, etc. something to break up the idea that diversity is a strength when in fact it is the opposite of our melting pot ideal. the death of cultural diversity should be a primary goal of this pathway because that will result in a less controllable voting block for either party with dreamers being more assimilated into existing american culture, and less reclusive.
4. voting rights should be granted at the end of the successful completion of this pathway, but it needs to be recognized from the beginning that this is a special provision for illegal immigrants and they should have a higher burden of completion than people who did it the right way and there should be no apology for that. we need to know who is here and properly document the people who are willing to do this and kick those that aren't over the damned wall.
5. speaking of the wall - this pathway needs to hinge upon the fact that it is rectifying a problem we allowed to happen by not securing our borders in the first place. i would immigrate here illegally too if i were them, so yes, a pathway for the humanity who is in our country, but close the damned door behind them and stop this from being a revolving door of amnesty for people in the future. applications for legal citizenship from this point on only and immediate deportation of anyone who didn't take advantage of this pathway right here and right now.
6. chain migration cannot be allowed. it was the cornerstone of the voting bloc plan by progressives. immediate nuclear family relatives, sure. spouse, kids. that's it. beyond that, it's simply not our problem and it was a decision the illegal immigrant weighed and took. they are lucky not to be deported and to have the right to visit their mexican cousins and return whenever they want to instead of having to swim across the rio grande again.
7. voter ids. damn the arguments. there is no excuse for this backdoor to be left open for voter fraud to occur. no id, no vote. period. non negotiable.
i think that's about it. bottom line, it has to fix the problem of illegal immigration first. and then it has to create an assimilated and productive population of new legal citizens who are well documented and allowed to chart their course as americans - not paranoid illegals huddling together in spanish speaking enclaves desperately pressing the buttons they are told to press by their oppressive overlords both R & D. liberty and freedom for these people, but with specific long game requirements re; criminality and assimilation.
