An executive order signed by President Donald Trump paved the way for state officials in Texas to identify dozens of noncitizens who allegedly voted in the 2024 election.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened investigations into 33 potential noncitizens who are suspected of voting in the 2024 general election, according to a press release from his office. The Republican prosecutor said the discoveries were made possible after the Trump administration allowed Texas officials to more easily gain access to a federal database that helps identify an individual’s citizenship or immigration status. Trump Admin’s Effort To Detect Noncitizen Voters Already Appears To Be Yielding Fruit
“Noncitizens must not be allowed to influence American elections, and I will use the full weight of my office to investigate all voter fraud,” Paxton said Tuesday in a prepared statement.
“In order to be able to trust the integrity of our elections, the results must be determined by our own citizens — not foreign nationals breaking the law to illegally vote,” the Texas attorney general continued. “These potential instances of unlawful voting will be thoroughly investigated, and I will continue to stand with President Trump in fighting to ensure that our state’s elections are safe and secure.”
Following Trump’s return to the White House, Texas officials were able to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, an online service program administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that allows various government agencies to verify the immigration status or U.S. naturalization of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.
Texas was able to access the SAVE database after Trump signed an executive order in March directing the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of USCIS, to offer the database free of charge to every state in order to protect election integrity, according to Paxton.
“Gaining access to this database has been a game-changer,” Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said in a prepared statement earlier in June. “Not only have we been able to identify individuals who should not have voted in the last election, we have also been able to confirm naturalization of dozens more.”
Jane’s office flagged the 33 potential cases to the Texas Office of Attorney General for investigation, which ultimately led to Paxton’s Tuesday announcement.
Trump has prioritized reforms to keep noncitizens out of U.S. elections since returning to office. In March, the president signed Executive Order 14248, Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, which aims to protect voting systems from fraud, systemic error and foreign influence.
The president has also voiced strong support for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation sponsored by Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy that would require state officials to obtain proof of citizenship prior to registering an individual for any federal election and also requires state officials to remove all noncitizens from existing voter rolls. That legislation passed the House in April, with only four Democrat lawmakers voting in favor of it.
More recently, the Trump administration unveiled a new partnership with the Social Security Administration to ensure “a single, reliable source for verifying immigration status and U.S. citizenship,” according to a memo previously obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The new partnership between the Social Security Administration and USCIS allows government agencies to create cases in SAVE using an applicant’s Social Security number in lieu of a Department of Homeland Security identifying number, which is not collected by a majority of state and local agencies, according to USCIS. Agencies are also now able to submit more than one case at a time, streamlining the process.
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