In a win for immigrants nationwide, the New York City Council voted Thursday to approve legislation that would expand the voting rights of hundreds of legal noncitizens, allowing them to partake in local elections. Easily approved by the council and advocacy groups, the bill allows the state’s legal permanent residents the right to vote—a fair exchange to those who pay taxes but, until now, had no say in how their tax dollars are spent.

The bill, titled “Our City, Our Vote,” applies to noncitizen residents who have resided in the city for at least 30 days, including green card holders, DACA holders, and those who are legally authorized to work in the country. It passed in a vote of 33 to 14. While the bill allows voting in local elections, noncitizens still remain barred from voting in state and federal elections. According to the Associated Press, about 800,000 people will benefit from this legislation.

If enacted the bill will make New York City the largest jurisdiction in the country to allow noncitizen voting, NPR reported. As of this report, more than a dozen communities across the country already allow noncitizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont.

Democrats are confident that the bill will pass, as only a veto from Mayor Bill de Blasio stands in the way of the measure becoming law. While de Blasio has questioned the legality of the measure, he confirmed he would not veto the council’s decision.  

Supporters of the bill argue that giving noncitizens the ability to vote in local elections allows for more accountability and an accurate representation of what the city’s population wants.

 “This is for my beautiful mother who will be able to vote for her son,” Councilman Francisco Moya, whose family is from Ecuador said as he spoke in support of the bill, the AP reported. 

But of course, not all agree with the bill. Republicans across the country are against the bill and giving voting rights to noncitizens.

“American citizens should decide American elections—full stop. Today’s decision in New York is the product of a radical, power-hungry Democrat Party that will stop at nothing to undermine election integrity,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. The RNC is reviewing legal options to challenge the bill. According to CNN, the RNC already has filed lawsuits against Winooski and Montpelier, Vermont, over letting noncitizens vote.

Since the law would only allow noncitizens to vote in local elections if passed, the Board of Elections will draw up an implementation plan by July, including voter registration rules and provisions that would create separate ballots for municipal races to prevent noncitizens from casting ballots in federal and state contests. Voting privileges for noncitizens would not be enacted until 2023.

Ahead of the vote hundreds of immigrants and supports came out to advocate for the bill. Among them is a green card holder and teacher from the Bronx, Melissa John. According to CBS News, John came to the city from Trinidad and Tobago as an undergraduate nearly 20 years ago.

“I can unequivocally say today, I’m finally being seen,” John told CBS News. “I’m finally being heard as part of the political process.”

This isn’t the first time the New York City Council made headlines positively for immigrants this year. In November Daily Kos reported that five Asian Americans were elected to the New York City Council. These five new appointees came as the highest number of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) representation the council has ever had; in the past, only two members of the AAPI community had served on the 51-member city council.

“It is no secret, we are making history today. 50 years down the line when our children look back at this moment they will see a diverse coalition of advocates who came together to write a new chapter in New York City’s history by giving immigrant New Yorkers the power of the ballot,” Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, a main sponsor of the bill, said in a statement Thursday.