Any alien who votes illegally or falsely claims American citizenship is subject to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation, according to a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directive.
“Illegal voting by aliens dilutes the votes of American citizens and undermines our democracy,” DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a statement. “ It must have consequences.”
The agency easily links illegal voting and fraudulent citizenship claims in identifying election violations given that voter registration forms require checking off a citizenship box in order to cast a ballot.
“DHS points out that the Immigration and Nationality Act directs the removal of aliens who illegally vote or make a false claim to U.S. citizenship, which often go hand-in-hand,” the mandate states.
Secretary of State Jane Nelson said the noncitizens were flagged through a cross-check of the state’s 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE immigration database.
The oversight vetted more than 2,700 potential illegal immigrants registered on the voter rolls, according to Nelson.
Originally enacted in 1952, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) governs immigration, naturalization, and exclusion of non-citizens in the United States.
Under INA § 237(a)(6), removal is triggered when any non-citizen casts a ballot in federal elections because federal law restricts voting in federal elections exclusively to U.S. citizens.
“The importance of free, fair, and honest elections is without question,” Percival said. “Echoing the words of President Trump, ‘the right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.’”
The president's order applies to verifying voter eligibility, grant administration, information-sharing, enforcement of federal integrity laws, improving voting systems, and criminal prosecution of unlawful voting by aliens.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also said his office would not tolerate such violations.