by WorldTribune Staff, October 18, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Florida is suing the Biden-Harris administration over what it claims is the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) refusal to verify immigration records so the state can ensure noncitizens are not voting.
The state argues in the lawsuit that DHS is mandated to respond to an inquiry from state or local governments seeking to verify the immigration status of anyone in their jurisdiction.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody“Because the federal government is refusing to comply with these obligations and frustrating Florida’s ability to maintain the integrity of its elections, Florida files this suit,” the lawsuit says.
Ohio has filed a similar lawsuit, requesting access to multiple DHS databases.
The Department of Justice, meanwhile, has sued Virginia and Alabama over those two states’ efforts to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement to Fox News Digital: “Voting is a right granted to American citizens — not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens. The Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country, and we must ensure that only citizens are on our voter rolls. I am taking legal action against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Mayorkas to ensure Florida is able to maintain the integrity of our state’s voter rolls.”
Florida says it “has an obligation to maintain accurate and current voter registration records” and also notes the impact of the Biden-Harris open southern border via which millions of noncitizens entered the U.S.
The state says it cannot track and maintain immigration information on its own. States can verify status through a DHS program called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. According to the lawsuit, DHS and Florida have an agreement to allow the state to use SAVE to verify immigration and citizenship status for people on voter registration rolls.
The lawsuit claims that Florida’s Department of State identified a number of individuals for whom it had evidence that they were not citizens, but couldn’t run a search via SAVE as it doesn’t have unique identifiers.
The state says it reached out to DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requesting the verification of those people, but was denied.
“Thus, Florida has identified a subset of individuals for whom it cannot verify citizenship or immigration status through SAVE and for whom DHS refuses to verify citizenship or immigration status through other means,” the state says in the lawsuit.
The state is seeking an order saying the refusal to provide Florida with a response is unlawful, a declaration that they are entitled to a response and an order requiring DHS to respond to the inquiry.
“The Florida Constitution is clear that only citizens can vote in our elections. Florida is calling on the federal government to dismantle the barriers blocking the states from obtaining critical information needed to prevent non-citizens from voting in our elections,” said Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd. “We are going to prevail in our effort to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution’s guarantee of one citizen, one vote.”
In suing Virginia and Alabama, the Department of Justice argues that the states have violated the Quiet Period Provision, which says that states must complete maintenance no later than 90 days before the election.
In a statement responding to the lawsuit against his state, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the DOJ’s move “politically motivated.”
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States go to court over DOJ’s refusal to remove noncitizens from voter rolls added by Editor Two on October 18, 2024
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