This Texas Mom Is In Jail And Facing Deportation All Because She Voted—Illegally

Here is yet another case of political party buyer's remorse. Rosa Maria Ortega, a Mexican national who identifies as a Republican, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for voter fraud in Texas, plus a hefty $5,000 fine. 

The 37-year old mom was convicted on two felony counts of illegal voting as she cast a ballot five times between 2005 - 2014. And get this. One of those votes, ironically, was for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton--the same office that helped prosecute her case.

The timing of her conviction couldn't be worse as it comes on the heels of Trump's claims that the 2016 presidential election was rigged. He insists that thousands of illegal aliens were allowed to vote costing him electoral college votes in New Hampshire and potentially other states. There is no proof of that, but he continues to offer these "alternative facts."

Ortega's lawyer thinks that the stiff sentence was handed down to justify his outrageous immigration bans and to gain support so that he can #BuildTheWall along the Mexican border. His relentless rhetoric about the "very bad" Mexican people quite likely biased the jury pool on this case. They just didn't buy her story.

According to Ortega's lawyer, she didn't know that legal residents did not have the right to vote. And apparently, voter registration cards are handed out to anyone who fills out the application saying all the right things. Shouldn't somebody be verifying that residency information first? 

Her attorney, Clark Birdsall, told The New York Times that, "She has a sixth-grade education. She didn’t know she wasn’t legal," he said. "She can own property; she can serve in the military; she can get a job; she can pay taxes. But she can’t vote, and she didn’t know that." Um. That sounds like taxation without representation.

Birdsall also said that Ortega was confused because the 2012 voter registration form didn't have an option to select for permanent residents. She checked "citizen," was issued a voter registration card, and proceeded to vote.  According to the Star-Telegram, she moved to another county in Texas and attempted to register. This time, she indicated that she was not a citizen and her application was rejected. Ortega was determined to register and called Tarrant County election officials arguing that she had voted previously. This phone call sealed her fate.

Assistant Attorney General Johnathan White blamed Ortega for her predicament and showed her neither mercy nor compassion. "She put herself here," he said during closing arguments at Ortega’s trial, according to the Star-Telegram. "We would not be here today had she not picked up the phone and called [Tarrant County elections clerk] Delores Stevens. If she had taken 'no' for an answer, all of this would have been swept away."

Unfortunately for Ortega, who has lived in the United States since infancy, she will be eligible for probation after serving two years. At the completion of her sentence, she will be deported. Her family is being broken up for the sake of a political agenda. That is one hell of a way to get a lesson in civics.