A group of Republican lawmakers, led by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, have filed election integrity bills related to the border crisis.
Gaetz filed the “Judicial Action to Impose Liability for Alien Voters Act,” known as the JAIL for Alien Voters Act, to ensure that every illegal foreign national who unlawfully votes in federal elections faces enhanced criminal penalties.
Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting. The bill would amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to increase the penalty to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine, in line with penalties for U.S. citizens who unlawfully vote. Republican U.S. Reps. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mike Collins of Georgia, Claudia Tenney of New York, and Barry Moore of Alabama, cosponsored it.
Gaetz filed the bill after former President Donald Trump called for stiffer penalties for a range of crimes committed by illegal border crossers, including voting. He also filed it months after U.S. House Republicans passed the SAVE Act in July. The bill would increase penalties and expand protections for states related to noncitizens voting. The Democratic-controlled Senate did not consider it.
“President Donald Trump is right: illegal aliens who vote in our elections should be in jail,” Gaetz said. “It is unacceptable that illegal aliens get lighter sentences for defrauding our elections than U.S. citizens. My legislation, the JAIL for Alien Voters Act, will create parity in punishment for those who commit voter fraud, regardless of immigration status. It’s common sense that U.S. citizens should be the only ones voting in U.S. elections.”
Earlier this month, after the Biden-Harris Department of Justice sued the Commonwealth of Virginia for removing noncitizens, including illegal border crossers, from its voter rolls, Gaetz introduced the “National Motor Voter Clarification Act.”
Virginia was among several states that removed noncitizens from its voter roles. Groups sued, leading to court rulings and appeals and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Virginia, The Center Square reported. The federal lawsuit against Virginia was “unprecedented,” Gaetz said, agreeing with Virginia’s governor “that removing non-Americans from voter rolls is ‘common sense and constitutional.’”
Gaetz’s bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 “to clarify the authority of States to remove individuals from the official lists of eligible voters on the basis of citizenship status.”
It was filed to “ensure Governors are allowed to do their jobs and remove illegal aliens from the voter rolls without fear of being targeted by” the federal government, Gaetz said. He also said it was “telling that the only ‘election integrity’ work the Biden-Harris Department of Justice seems interested in is ensuring maximal turnout for people who can’t even legally vote!”
Both bills were filed “to secure U.S. elections against voting by the tens of millions of illegal aliens who have entered illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden-Harris administration.”
Last month, Florida also sued the Biden-Harris administration for refusing to verify voter registration citizenship information, The Center Square reported. Florida has been leading on the issue after battling the federal government for more than 10 years in litigation to ensure that federal agencies make immigration status information available to state agencies in accordance with federal law.
Federal law requires federal agencies to make the requested information available to states “for any legal purpose, such as credentials, background investigations, and voter registration,” Florida’s lawsuit says.
The issue has been a rallying cry of Republicans as the greatest number of illegal border crossers have been reported in U.S. history under the Biden-Harris administration, of roughly 14 million, The Center Square reported. Despite the administration’s claims that illegal border crossings were lower, nearly three million were reported in fiscal 2024, The Center Square reported.
