Whether to award citizenship to millions of illegal aliens, including dreamers, has emerged as one of the signal controversies plaguing the United States in the second decade of the 21st century.

Those who believe in the rule of law, as this writer does, argue that giving citizenship to illegal immigrants violates federal immigration laws. If we permit one law to be ignored, all laws will be subject to individual whims, and it will bring us closer to anarchy.

Liberals, on the other hand, insist citizenship should be awarded to all people who entered the country illegally. It is no secret by now that the Democratic Party is in favor of open borders, not for reasons of compassion but in order to swell the voting rolls.

Their assumption is that Hispanic immigrants will vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates. If millions of illegal immigrants are granted citizenship, the Democrats will own the country because no Republican will ever be elected to major national office. The big question for the Democratic Party is: How do we get all these undocumented people into the voting booths?

Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago is pointing the way. He plans to offer an identity card — known as the CityKey — to anyone who applies, including people who are in the country illegally and who are labeled as “undocumented immigrants.”

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The card will contain the bearer’s photo, date of birth, and residence address but no reference to citizenship status. People who previously were “undocumented” will automatically become “documented.” To encourage illegals to use the program, Chicago will not maintain a record of the background information applicants provide to establish their home addresses.

How convenient. Federal immigration agents will not be able to track them down.

Chicago officials have cited the example of San Francisco, another illegal “sanctuary” jurisdiction that has issued a similar identity card to 30,000 people since 2009. To receive a card in the city by the bay, all an illegal alien has to do is show a foreign passport, a foreign driver’s license, a utility bill, an employment pay stub, or written verification from a homeless shelter. As in Chicago, no record is kept of the cardholder’s address.

A majority of Chicago’s aldermen voted in favor of the CityKey program. One alderman said, with a straight face, that the new ID card is a good idea because it will eliminate the need for illegals to break the law by obtaining fake IDs as they do now.

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According to the Chicago Tribune, the CityKey “is viewed in City Hall circles as a way for Emanuel to boost his standing with Hispanic voters and immigrant rights supporters as he preps a 2019 re-election bid.”

Mayor Emanuel appears unconcerned that he may be abetting voter fraud.

The Illinois Elections Code charges the Chicago Board of Elections to accept current, valid photo identification cards as proof of identity and residency. In other words, the CityKey will be a valid ID for anyone attempting to vote.

The city of Chicago will be enabling noncitizens to vote in violation of federal law. Under Illinois state law, city officials claim, voters are not required to prove they are American citizens. All a person needs to do is say “I am a citizen,” and that person can vote. Mayor Emanuel appears unconcerned that he may be abetting voter fraud.

The ramifications of the CityKey go way beyond local politics. Chicago and San Francisco are not alone in making it easier for illegals to vote. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 12 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to enable “unauthorized immigrants” to obtain a driver’s license. In 34 states, a valid driver’s license is all one needs to vote. People may vote in 16 states without showing any identification at all.

Can you see where this is heading? The plan of the Democratic Party is to use dubious forms of ID in order to give voting rights to illegals. If they can get away with this subterfuge, the issue of whether we should award citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants will become irrelevant.

Congress won’t have to vote on it, and the president will be spared the trouble of alienating his base. We won’t have to give anyone citizenship because the rights and privileges that normally are reserved for citizens will be available to anyone with a phony ID.

Related: Democrats’ Insane Immigration Demands Will Be the End of America

The value of U.S. citizenship will dwindle to zero. Why aspire to citizenship when all the perks are available without it?

In such a scenario, we can expect untold millions to cross our borders illegally with the assurance that they will be able to vote in our elections and receive free health care, education for their children, welfare payments, unemployment benefits, social security, etc. Unethical politicians are selling our beloved country and the rule of law down the river.

I hope I never live to see it.

Ed Brodow is a political commentator, negotiation expert, and author of “Tyranny of the Minority: How the Left is Destroying America.”

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