Voting rights for all — ACLU SoCal
By Julia Gomez
Marcela Rosas de Cid came to the U.S. in 2012 with her three children from Michoacan, Mexico. Leaving her community and everything she knew, she joined her husband in the United States after living apart for more than a decade. Together, they made a new home in Santa Ana, California, where they live and work and all their children have attended local schools.
In Santa Ana, the second-most populous city in Orange County, one in four residents are noncitizens. Since the 1970s, Santa Ana has become an increasingly Spanish-speaking city as people from across Latin America migrated and established families, businesses, and community roots. Today, 68.7% of Santa Ana residents speak Spanish. The city also has a large Asian diaspora, with nearly 10% of residents speaking Asian and Pacific Island languages such as Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog.
This is how Marcela came to find her footing in a new country and a new city. Alongside community members from many racial and ethnic backgrounds, she began advocating for local causes and resources. She found friends, purpose, and pride participating in events like Santa Ana’s Fiestas Patrias celebrating Latine Heritage Month or volunteering with VietRISE at the Little Saigon Community Festival, celebrating Vietnamese culture.
Marcela became an active member of her community, organizing for change even though she could not directly participate in electing officials or voting on policy. “I didn’t have a say in local elections or matters that affected my family and community. It wasn’t until I became a U.S. citizen and could finally vote that I felt heard.”
Noncitizens and immigrants like Marcela are integral to society. They are parents, taxpayers, and business owners, and in Santa Ana, about 28% of the adult population. They contribute meaningfully to their communities, yet they are unable to participate in city elections solely because of their immigration status, despite many having lived here for decades and contributing significantly to the local economy, more than $117 million annually in state and local taxes. Measure DD offers Santa Ana voters an opportunity to strengthen our democracy by allowing noncitizens to vote for city officials and influence policies that shape their daily lives, regardless of citizenship status.
