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A Filipino immigrant who faced deportation for nearly a decade after she registered to vote while getting a driver's license — and then went ahead and cast a ballot — has been cleared of wrongdoing by a federal appellate court.
Elizabeth Keathley, of Bloomington, Ill., will be able to stay in the U.S. under a ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and has been approved for permanent residence by a Department of Justice immigration judge.
"I feel like I am now part of the United States," said Keathley, 35. "I am so happy it's all over."
Keathley's plight, chronicled in a Page 1 Tribune story in 2007, was shared by dozens of other immigrants who illegally registered to vote through the National Voter Registration Act, better known as the "motor voter" law.
The appellate court decided Keathley didn't intentionally do anything wrong when she registered to vote in 2006 through the motor voter law, which mandates that people applying for driver's licenses or ID cards be asked if they are interested in registering to vote.
