by Lance T. Izumi, Fellow in California Studies
Pacific Research Institute
February 1997

Announcer lead: Time for Perspectives. Lance Izumi says that recent citizenship scandals threaten our democratic principles.

Two of the most important elements in a successful democracy such as ours are citizenship and the right to vote. Citizenship allows us to participate fully in American life, with all its privileges and obligations. And one of the greatest of these privileges is the ability of citizens to choose their leaders by voting in free and fair elections.

That is why the recent scandals involving botched citizenship processing and voting by ineligible individuals are so troubling. In Southern California, the Los Angeles Times and other publications have exposed serious voting irregularities in the election that saw Republican Congressman Robert Dornan narrowly defeated by Democrat Loretta Sanchez. According to these reports, non-citizens allegedly recruited by a local immigrant-aid organization voted in the election possibly giving Sanchez her slim margin of victory. The Orange County district attorney is investigating the case. On top of this now comes revelations that a Clinton administration fast-track naturalization program allowed 180,000 people to become citizens before criminal records checks could be completed. In order to become a citizen one cannot have felony convictions like rape or murder on one's record. Yet, in its rush to swear-in these individuals as citizens before last November's election, the White House pressured its top INS appointees to ignore regular procedures. President Clinton evidently saw electoral gold in these new potential voters. The unfortunate result, though, is that tens of thousands of ineligible convicted felons may have wrongly become citizens. One disgusted INS investigator in Los Angeles has said, "We are not safeguarding society. We are giving away the most valuable benefit we can bestow upon an individual -- citizenship -- to people who are not legally entitled to it."

When one remembers that Americans have fought and died for the principles embodied in citizenship, it is simply a travesty to find out that government and political leaders have abused the citizenship process purely for partisan gain.

With a perspective, I'm Lance Izumi.