White House hints that Biden will veto bill allowing only citizens to vote
Republican Party leaders warn that the announcement and the president's latest moves appear to pave the way for the millions of illegal immigrants to go to the polls.
![Inmigrantes cruzando la Selva del Darién](https://imagenes.voz.us/files/image_large/uploads/2024/06/18/6671519131e22.jpeg)
A group of illegal immigrants advances towards the U.S.
The Biden Administration has made it clear that illegal immigration is a key issue for the November elections. After some timid attempts to pass legislation to tighten entry into the country, the president and his team have changed their strategy radically, raising suspicions about a massive amnesty so that the millions of undocumented immigrants in the country can vote. Suspicions that are heightened after the White House's announcement that it will veto the Republicans' Save Act, which seeks to ensure that only citizens can elect their representatives, if it reaches their desk.
White House denounces GOP "alarming" citizens "with falsehoods"
In a statement, the Executive Office of the President accused Republicans of alarming the citizenry with "falsehoods," noting that in the country "it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections—it is a Federal crime punishable by prison and fines."
"This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls. The evidence is clear that the current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working as intended," the text says.
The memo insists that Biden "will continue to fight to protect the sacred right of Americans to vote in a free, fair, and secure election, including by calling on Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act." In addition, he again tried to resurrect the bad bipartisan bill that the Senate twice shot down, calling on conservatives to bring it forward.
"If House Republicans really want to do something about securing our border and fixing our broken immigration system, they should vote on the border deal that the President negotiated with a bipartisan group of Senators—this would provide immigration officials the resources they need to do their jobs and be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border that we have seen in decades".
GOP calls for proof of citizenship to vote
The missive was quickly answered by GOP leaders, such as speaker Mike Johnson, who found it "alarming" that "the sitting President of the United States, who has opened our border to more than 9 million illegals, just announced he will veto our bill to prevent non-citizens from voting."
Other representatives, such as Texan Chip Roy, charged against the presidential brief, denouncing that "On the one hand, Biden says it's already illegal for non-citizens to vote in elections. On the other hand, he is promoting non-citizens voting in elections. Wonder what his real goals are?" Moreover, in a televised interview, he also demanded that a voter present proof of citizenship before exercising his or her right to go to the polls: "Let's stand up right now as Americans and say, 'Only American citizens should vote, and you must provide proof of citizenship to register.'"