In what could revive a longstanding debate about voting and immigrants' rights, a City Councilmember plans to introduce legislation on Thursday that would give New Yorkers who are legal permanent residents as well as those authorized to work in the country the right to cast a ballot in municipal elections.

The bill drafted by Ydanis Rodriguez, a Democratic Councilmember who represents parts of Northern Manhattan, follows several others that have been proposed over the last two decades but which never gained sufficient support. Under Rodriguez's plan, the city would create a new category of "municipal voters" who are non-citizens but who have green cards and work authorizations and have lived in the city for at least 30 days. It would apply to elections and primaries for the office of mayor, comptroller, public advocate, City Councilmembers, and borough presidents.

"New York City has to lead in being progressive," Rodriguez told Gothamist/WNYC in an interview. He described the legislation as part of the growing movement for immigrants rights in the face of President Donald Trump administration's anti-immigration policies.

He argued that it was time for the city to "respect the contribution of New Yorkers who have green cards, who have working papers, who contribute through taxes."

"This is about knowing that there are a group of people we have left out," he added.

The legislation has the potential to dramatically reshape city elections. New York has the the largest number of immigrants of any city in the country. Estimates on the number of new local voters the bill could bring have ranged from 500,000 to nearly 1 million.

Rodriguez, who is among a crowded field of contenders for the 15th Congressional District seat in the Bronx -- a district where roughly two thirds of residents are from Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic -- said that 25 Councilmembers have already signed on in support of the bill, along with the city's public advocate Jumaane Williams, Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams.

He added that more than 40 community organizations, including the NAACP, are also backing his plan.

Immigrant voting is not without precedent in New York City nor the country. Prior to World War I, immigrants in many states could vote in local, state and even Congressional elections—even while women and blacks could not. And in New York City, until the system was disbanded in 2002, all residents were allowed to vote for and serve on local school boards. Six towns in Maryland's Montgomery County have been at the forefront of expanding voting rights to noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants. Other places that have passed or are considering such legislation include Massachusetts, San Francisco, Portland, and Maine and Washington, D.C.

Critics against the measure have long argued that it would devalue citizenship by removing one of its distinguishing benefits. Some have also raised legal issues, but lawyers for the City Council in 2004 reviewed state election law and determined that the city could amend its own voting statues without the approval of the state legislature, which in the past has also considered legislation for noncitizen voting.

At least one Councilmember, Republican Joe Borelli, who represents parts of Staten Island, has argued that the issue should be put to voters as a referendum.

Kalman Yeger, a City Councilmember from Brooklyn, opposes the bill, telling the NY Post, “It’s not progressive to tell legal residents of the United States that citizenship has no value.”

Democrats and progressives have been divided on the issue in the past. Despite having been seen as a strong defender of immigrant rights, Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposed the policy. In 2017, a spokesman for Bill de Blasio told the Village Voice that "noncitizen voting is an idea we are evaluating but not supporting at this time.”

On Wednesday, a de Blasio spokesperson said the administration had not yet seen the legislation but would review it once it has been introduced.

Proponents say the time is right in more ways than one. In addition to rising immigrant activism, New York has already passed significant voting reforms, which has included early voting and will soon also incorporate ranked-choice voting.

"This feels like a campaign that builds on that great momentum," said Nora Moran, the director of policy and advocacy for United Neighborhood Houses, a public policy organization.

If passed, the Board of Elections would be expected to create a new registration form for the new category of voters and possibly a new ballot. In what could possibly simplify implementation, New York City elections take place on odd numbered-years, meaning they would not overlap with federal and state elections.

Moran said that regardless, supporters of the legislation fully anticipate the need for an education period for election workers as well as the new electorate.

But in the end, she said, "There’s always obstacles with any legislation."