Texas sues Biden administration over voter citizenship data

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, alleging it violated a federal law that requires the agency to respond to inquiries from state authorities about the citizenship status of people registered to vote.

“The law demands that they provide important information regarding the citizenship of nearly half a million potentially ineligible voters,” Paxton wrote in a release. “Since the Biden-Harris Administration has chosen to ignore the law, I will see them in court.”

The Lone Star State Republican wrote a letter to the DHS requesting support in verifying 450,000 voters’ citizenship status by Oct. 19.

Their citizenship was never confirmed because they registered without a Texas-issued driver’s license or identification card; however, many of them are “likely citizens,” according to Paxton’s office. 

Four days after the proposed deadline, the Texas Secretary of State and the Office of the Attorney General sued DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other members of the Biden administration as co-plaintiffs.

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) administers an online information service called SAVE that allows registered and authorized agencies, including election authorities in states, to verify certain individuals’ citizenship or immigration status,” a DHS spokesperson told The Hill confirming they corresponded with Texas officials through official channels.

SAVE is a congressionally-mandated online service that has existed since 1986 and is used by nearly 1,200 federal, state, and local municipalities, according to the agency.

“SAVE is the most secure and efficient way to verify an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, including for verification regarding voter registration and/or voter list maintenance.  By inputting an individual’s name, unique DHS-issued immigration identifier, and birthdate, registered agencies can determine whether that person has obtained U.S. citizenship through the naturalization process or, for certain other individuals born abroad, whether USCIS has information confirming their U.S. citizenship, ” the spokesperson added.  

Allies of former President Trump have recently alleged that noncitizen voters could impact the outcome of the 2024 election, despite little evidence supporting those claims and laws declaring noncitizens ineligible to cast ballots.

The Republican-led House passed a bill to ban noncitizens from voting in federal elections; it was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote, either a stand-alone bill or as part of a resolution to avoid a government shutdown.

In May, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters, “We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it’s not been something that is easily provable. We don’t have that number.” In July, when the bill passed the House, he asserted noncitizens were voting.

Democratic Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) called the measure a “modern poll tax” claiming the cost of passports or other methods of federal identification could prohibit voters from being civically engaged.

Updated at 12:12 p.m. EDT