Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over allegations that the agency refused to assist in verifying the immigration statuses of noncitizens registered to vote.
The lawsuit accuses the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a DHS agency, of denying the Florida Department of State’s request to verify the citizenship status of individuals registered to vote who do not have identifiable immigration markers for the SAVE program database search.
The big picture: Florida claimed that DHS is obligated by federal law to assist states in verifying citizenship status upon request, citing a law regarding communication between agencies and the formerly operational Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which was in charge of citizenship matters until 2003.
- USCIS reportedly informed the Florida state department that the SAVE program is the sole method for states to confirm immigration and citizenship statuses and denied additional information requests regarding the registered voters under scrutiny.
- Concerns were raised over potential significant state resources that would be expended in verifying citizenship or immigration statuses without cooperation from DHS, as state law mandates that only citizens can vote in Florida, requiring election officials to maintain accurate registration records.
What we’re watching: Florida is calling on the federal government to remove obstacles that impede states from accessing crucial information necessary for preventing non-citizens from voting in elections.
