Established Fact
A contract between New York City and Homes for the Homeless, a nonprofit operating a Staten Island migrant shelter, required the contractor to “provide and distribute voter registration forms to all persons,” with forms available in Spanish and Chinese, while simultaneously prohibiting the contractor from inquiring about immigration status (as confirmed by Rep. Malliotakis’s December 2023 FOIL request). New York City’s Department of Social Services stated that the language is legally required in all shelter contracts and applies only to eligible citizens. NYC Council passed Local Law 11 in December 2021 allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections; a state court struck it down (June 2022); the NYC Court of Appeals struck it down as unconstitutional (March 2025).
Citations
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, Press Release, “Malliotakis Sounds Alarm on Potential Voter Registration at NYC Migrant Shelters” (Dec. 3, 2023), malliotakis.house.gov (reproducing contract language requiring Homes for the Homeless to distribute voter registration forms to “all persons” while prohibiting inquiry into immigration status; contract page 50 cited).
NYC Dep’t of Social Services response (Dec. 3, 2023): “These allegations are false and baseless. DHS is legally required to include language around voter registration in shelter contracts and this guidance applies only to eligible clients who are citizens, and would clearly not apply to asylum seekers in shelter” (quoted in contemporaneous press reporting). Agent note: the city’s response is noted as a counterpoint; the contract language itself is confirmed.
New York Post, “NY GOP Pols Claim ‘Smoking Gun’ in Alleged Migrant Voter Fraud” (Dec. 3, 2023) (reporting on Malliotakis FOIL findings and contract language; quoting contract page 50).
NYC Council Local Law 11 (passed Dec. 2021, allowing green card holders and legal non-residents to vote in local elections; struck down as unconstitutional by New York Court of Appeals, Mar. 2025).
National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20506 (requiring public assistance offices to offer voter registration forms; requiring applicants to attest to citizenship under penalty of perjury).