It does not tell the truth as it is written.
Let us assume that you are an immigrant, just as I am, and you believe this man. Let us now analyze what he is writing in plain English.
"You are being sent this letter because you were recently registered to vote. If you are a citizen of the United States, we ask that you participate in the democratic process of voting."
Great! This guy wants me to vote for him. :-).
"You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal ....."
Nope. I am as "by the book" legal as you can get. :-)
"OR "
Hmmmm.....I wonder what the "or" is.
".....you are an immigrant".....,
Yep, I am an immigrant just as Andrew Carnegie was and that guy, Polybius, on Free Republic is. I'm going to work hard and make it in this country too. :-)
..........voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time, and you will be deported for voting without having a right to do so."
What! I did not know that!
All this time, I thought that I would be able to vote once I became a citizen. Now I find out that only native-born citizens can vote in Federal elections just as only native-born citizens can become President of the United States. :-(
And, if I do vote, I can get deported! :-o
Sorry, but this idiot played fast and loose with the English language. "Immigrant" is not a synonym for "illegal alien" or a synonym for "legal resident" or "resident alien".
Sending an immigrant, such as myself, a letter that states in plain English that "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal OR YOU ARE AN IMMIGRANT, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time, and you will be deported for voting without having a right to do so" is not only sending a false statement but also committing voter intimidation as defined by the Voting Rights Act.
The letter addressed 3 distinct persons. Citizens, illegals and immigrants. Why do I say this? Between the word illegal and immigrant is the word "or". So this 3 type of persons are distinct and not the same.
Nope. The letter was written in Spanish. The word "immigrant" in the English translation does not appear in the original version. From another thread, the corresponding sentence is:
"Se le avisa que si su residencia en este país es ilegal o si es emigrado, votar en una eleción federal es un delito que podrá resultar en encarcelamiento, y sí será deportado por votar sin tener derecho a ello."There was some debate about the meaning, because apparently the grammar is wrong. The boldface part roughly translates to, "if your residence in this country is illegal or if it is emigrated."
I would guess that the "si es emigrado" part refers to the case of the reader (not his residence) being an emigrant from another country (but not necessarily an immigrant to this country). Someone in the process of immigration to this country must have first left his home country, hence one could say this person has already emigrated. Until he is naturalized, he's not a citizen. In English, we call these foreigners "aliens," but perhaps there's a different word in Spanish that the letter writer wished to avoid using. We often further divide aliens into illegal aliens and legal aliens, so it would make sense for the letter writer to separate both these groups from citizens, whom he encouraged to vote.