Cedar Rapids Today

I recently had the distinct honor of joining a naturalization ceremony at the iconic Field of Dreams, where 35 new Americans took their oath of citizenship after diligently putting in the work to legally become American citizens. I was humbled to hear their stories and see their excitement to embrace their new lives as American citizens, including the right to vote in U.S. elections.

Meanwhile, under Joe Biden and ‘border czar’ Kamala Harris, millions of illegal immigrants have crossed our Southern Border and are now in our communities. This is not only an affront to all those who followed our laws and became citizens legally, but it also poses a serious threat to election integrity.

In many states, illegal immigrants are eligible to apply for driver’s licenses, providing ample opportunities to register to vote. Imagine if even half of the illegal immigrants that have entered our country during Joe Biden’s administration cast votes in federal elections. That would undoubtedly change election outcomes in races across the country, up and down the ballot.

In a growing number of jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., non-citizens are eligible to vote in municipal elections. Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz signed legislation allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses in Minnesota. I have no doubt that Harris and Walz want to expand this policy nationally and allow illegal immigrants and non-citizens to vote in every election — a disturbing strategy to reshape the American electorate.

To improve our election integrity, the Republican-led House passed the Securing American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This commonsense bill will require state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms and require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections while also expanding the variety of documents accepted by state election officials to allow a citizen to register to vote. This will make it easy for American citizens to participate in our elections while ensuring illegal immigrants do not vote.

Before the House even considered this bill, the Harris-Biden Administration signaled their intent to veto it — doubling down on allowing illegal immigrants to register to vote while keeping our Southern Border wide open and endorsing amnesty. It’s clear: the Democrat party wants to turn the illegal immigrants they allowed into our country into Democrat voters. Just as most Americans believe in strong voter ID laws and want a secure border, most Americans want to ensure illegal immigrants aren’t diminishing the voices of American citizens by voting in our elections.

Many on the Left fear-monger about threats to our democracy because they disagree with conservative policies while they are actively making it easier for illegal immigrants to vote in federal elections. Their empty rhetoric is ringing increasingly hollow. If Democrats were really interested in preserving our democracy, they would join Republicans in ensuring illegal immigrants do not participate in our elections and that all Americans are confident in the integrity of their vote.

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