The Republicans and Their Fake Problem of The Non-Citizen Vote

A few days ago the Republicans presented a new proposal before the federal House of Representatives called Save Act 2024 through which they try to suppress a problem that in reality does not exist, the voting of non-citizens in elections. Perhaps we should remind them that since 1996 a change in federal law was approved that specifically prohibits people who are not U.S. citizens to vote and in the event that they do so they can face very severe punishments, including fines, imprisonment and deportation. 

In other words there is no need to pass a new law like the one that Congressman Chip Roy and other extremist Texas Republicans like Congressional Speaker Mike Johnson are trying to pass right now for the sole purpose of getting publicity and continuing the foolishness of former President Trump who keeps saying that one of the reasons he lost the election in 2020 was because so many non-citizens voted.

The problem for Republicans, according to people who analyze elections, is that there is already a law that provides that only citizens can vote there is no reason to make a second law saying the same thing plus all the research done has shown that very few non-citizens vote in elections let alone elections for president.

For example the Brennan Center for Justice reviewed the 2016 general election votes in 42 jurisdictions in several states and found only 30 votes that were suspected of being non-citizens, that is out of a total of over 23 million votes in these jurisdictions there were 12 that were supposedly non-citizens. In other words,  this problem does not exist.  For the Trumpists who still do not want to accept the truth that they lost the 2020 elections not because of supposedly non-citizen votes or dead people or according to them people voting more than once, but simply because the majority of people voted for Biden.

Also USA Today, one of the most recognized newspapers in the country, reported that the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson could not offer any figures of non-citizens voting in federal elections to justify their new legislation, although they keep talking about undocumented people voting in federal elections.

I have worked many times at the polls overseeing federal elections and I have witnessed that they make sure very well that people who vote must be registered and in order to register you have to prove that you are a citizen. It is crazy to think that many people can register to vote if they do not have proof of being a U.S. citizen either by birth or naturalization.

This proposal will probably pass in the House, but almost certainly not in the Senate which still has a Democratic majority, but it will gain a lot of publicity for the Trumpists and extremist Republicans who continue with their arguments, first against immigrants, albeit with false accusations and second to continue promoting the lie that Trump won the last election.

It is very important that they open their eyes and say enough is enough with the lies and insistance on blaming things that are not true on immigrants. On the contrary they must recognize the good things immigratns  do  for the economy of the country and society. The lies of the Trumpists cannot continue without being challenged and ask that they provide proof, which does not exist. We must say no to this bill. What we must do is to encourage people who are already citizens, either by birth or naturalization, to show up to vote. 

We know that this publicity will increase discrimination and attacks at the polls where we have already seen Republican activists trying to intimidate Latino and naturalized immigrant voters.

Citizens over the age of 18 must register to vote and those who are legal permanent residents must apply for naturalization in order to exercise their right to vote.