Biden Condemns SAVE Act, Would Bar Noncitizens From Voting in U.S. Elections

President Joe Biden (D) announced his opposition to Representative Chip Roy’s (R-TX) Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This bill includes provisions to ensure that only United States citizens – not illegal immigrants – can vote in U.S. elections by requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections. The bill has received support from countless Republicans such as Representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Kat Cammack (R-FL).

In June, the New York Post reported that 49 states in the Union are actively providing voter registration forms without the necessary proof of citizenship.

“There is currently no requirement on federal voting forms to provide proof of US citizenship, though it is illegal to falsely claim one is a citizen or for a non-citizen to cast a ballot in a federal election … If an applicant attests that they are a US citizen, that is considered valid on its face and the person is registered to vote,” wrote Josh Christenson of the New York Post.

However, the Biden administration claims that this bill would not accomplish its intended goal.

“This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls. The evidence is clear that the current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working as intended – it is extraordinarily rare for noncitizens to break the law by voting in Federal elections.”

However, Rep. Roy – the bill’s sponsor – appeared to not be surprised by the President’s condemnation of the legislation.

“Well, I'm honored. I'm honored to be in the crosshairs of the White House, a White House which is very clearly in opposition to the well-being of most Americans, as evidenced by their open borders and the death of Laken Riley and a bunch of Texans. This administration is not interested in safeguarding the American people's right to vote. They're not interested in safeguarding anything about our safety and well-being. This is about political power, nothing more, nothing less. That's what it's about for them.

Rep. Roy would later mention, “They're going to oppose this bill. We knew that. That's why I started by explaining, when I said documentary proof of citizenship, I made clear that we do allow safety valves for ensuring there'll be no undue burden, to use the Supreme Court's parlance, on a citizen’s right to vote. It was purposeful, we structured it that way. We work with smart lawyers about how to set it up, and there's no burden that's going to be placed on an actual citizen’s ability to go cast a ballot. That's the truth. We're just going to make sure that we try to prevent those who are noncitizens from voting, but of course, they oppose it. They don't want any break in their current efforts to try to register people using Medicaid and all these welfare systems, which they're currently using to register people to vote who are not citizens.”

Moreover, Rep. Buchanan, who has publicly endorsed the bill in the past, cited Shakespeare to describe his emotion regarding President Biden’s statement.

“If it’s already impossible for illegals to vote in our elections, why would Biden and Congressional Democrats work so hard to oppose a commonsense bill that simply requires proof of citizenship? As the iconic line from Hamlet goes, ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks,’” said Rep. Buchanan.

This is a developing story.