House and Senate Republicans are reviving a Trump-backed push to curb noncitizen voting
FIRST ON FOX: Republican representatives in the House and Senate are renewing their push to curb noncitizen voting in federal elections, reintroducing a bipartisan bill that the GOP repeatedly touted last year.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are reintroducing The Protecting American Voters (SAVE) Act.which seeks to ensure that non-citizens cannot vote in federal elections.
Although only citizens can vote in federal elections, Republicans have argued that this is impossible to enforce because non-citizens and illegal immigrants are eligible for driver’s licenses and other benefits in the states, which may lead to them being registered to vote.
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People come to vote during early voting. (Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The bill requires states to personally obtain documentary proof of US citizenship and identity when registering an individual to vote. It also requires states to establish a program to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and allows citizens to bring lawsuits against officials who violate the law.
The bill was adopted in The house last yearwith five Democrats voting yes, but it stalled in the Senate – where it is House controlled by Democrats passed the spending bill without including the SAVE Act, as Republicans had hoped. President Biden has promised to veto the bill.
The bill has gained traction among Republicans amid a surge of migrants to the US during the Biden administration, as well as recent announcements by states that they have identified thousands of non-citizens on their censuses.
But now Republicans control the Senate and soon the White House, where President-elect Trump has expressed support for legislation that would prevent non-citizens from voting.
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“Republicans need to pass the bailout or go home and cry yourself to sleep,” he said in July.
Roy, who is co-sponsoring the bill in the House with Rep. Andrew Garbarin, R-NY, said, “American elections belong to the American people, and public trust in those elections is the cornerstone of our republic.”
“We in Congress have a duty to our fellow citizens to provide that trust. We must have concrete enforcement mechanisms to ensure that our elections and our sovereignty cannot be hijacked and influenced by foreign nationals who have no business voting in this country,” he said.
Rep. Chip Roy nominates Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker before the third round of voting on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 3, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“The House passed this critical bipartisan bill last year – we need to do it again. I look forward to working with the Republican Senate to get this policy on President Trump’s desk,” he said.
Lee said public confidence in the integrity of elections is “absolutely essential to the legitimacy of our democratic institutions.”
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“The vast majority of our fellow citizens agree: only American citizens should be able to register and vote in American elections. The SAVE Act gives states the ability to prevent illegal voter registration and protect the ballot box from foreign interference in elections,” he said.
Garbarino, meanwhile, criticized the city of New York for disregarding the principle that American citizens decide their own elections by allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections.
“The SAVE Act supports the integrity of our elections by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, ensuring that this fundamental right is reserved exclusively for American citizens,” he said.
The bill also has support from groups including the Citizens Only Voting Coalition, the Tea Party Patriot Action and the Immigration Accountability Project. There are 59 co-sponsors in the House. The bill was introduced in the lower house on Friday and is expected to be introduced in the Senate next week.
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The bill comes at a time when Congress is expected to make immigration issues a top priority. On Tuesday, the House passed Laken Riley Actwhich would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants convicted of theft-related crimes. It would also allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for damages caused to their citizens by illegal immigration.
Fox News’ Julia Johnson and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
