--- title: The False Fear of Noncitizen Voting description: Framed as a fraud-prevention measure, Trump’s SAVE Act is “the equivalent of a four-alarm fire for our democracy,” writes Kica Matos. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/the-false-fear-of-noncitizen-voting/ author: Kica Matos article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-26T10:00:03.958Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-26T10:00:04.149Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The False Fear of Noncitizen Voting og:description: Framed as a fraud-prevention measure, Trump’s SAVE Act is “the equivalent of a four-alarm fire for our democracy,” writes Kica Matos. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/the-false-fear-of-noncitizen-voting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa0305c652d46bfc/6a8e07212b805db213c64641/U.S.-Capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2121 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: U.S.-Capitol.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The False Fear of Noncitizen Voting twitter:description: Framed as a fraud-prevention measure, Trump’s SAVE Act is “the equivalent of a four-alarm fire for our democracy,” writes Kica Matos. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa0305c652d46bfc/6a8e07212b805db213c64641/U.S.-Capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The False Fear of Noncitizen Voting by [Kica Matos](https://time.com/author/kica-matos/) ## Kica Matos Contributor Kica Matos is president of the National Immigration Law Center and a distinguished practitioner at Yale University Aug 26, 2026 10:00 AM UTC  Douglas Rissing—Getty Images by [Kica Matos](https://time.com/author/kica-matos/) ## Kica Matos Contributor Kica Matos is president of the National Immigration Law Center and a distinguished practitioner at Yale University Aug 26, 2026 10:00 AM UTC There is no epidemic of noncitizens voting in our elections. Federal law already bars it, and despite repeated allegations by a number of prominent conservative figures, hunts for violators [have turned up](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/) [next to nothing](https://time.com/7381495/trump-non-citizen-voter-fraud-claims-research-immigration/). Yet President Donald Trump continues to [aggressively push](https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/trump-thune-senate-republicans-save-america-act/) for passage of his [SAVE Act](https://time.com/article/2026/06/24/trump-housing-bill-save-america-act-voting-restrictions/), a bill that would require every American to show a passport or birth certificate in person just to register to vote, effectively ending online and mail-in registration. Framed as a fraud-prevention measure, I expect the bill would ultimately do far more to keep eligible citizens off voter rolls than to stop alleged noncitizen voting. And then there’s what Trump expects: he [has said](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5776058-trump-republicans-save-america-act-midterms/) that the SAVE Act would “guarantee the midterms” for Republicans, who, he’s promised, “will not lose an election for 100 years.” But the SAVE Act should scare voters [across the political spectrum](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/we-re-conservative-republicans-the-save-act-is-a-mistake/). Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. They are the primary mechanism by which we select our leaders and hold them accountable. When any politician—whose access to power depends on election outcomes—repeatedly casts doubt on election integrity without evidence, we must see it as an attempt to undermine our democracy and push back hard. This is why I see the passage of the SAVE Act as the equivalent of a four-alarm fire for our democracy. Not only could the bill make it impossible for millions of Americans to exercise their right to vote, but it would also hand the federal government unprecedented new powers over election administration and voter data, powers that have always [belonged to the states](https://time.com/article/2026/04/02/trump-is-trying-to-nationalize-elections-states-won-t-let-him/). Such is the potential for mass disenfranchisement and abuses of power that even members of Trump’s own party have decried the bill as “[a mistake](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/we-re-conservative-republicans-the-save-act-is-a-mistake/).” And yet the SAVE Act is only one front of the attack on our democracy. There are other examples of disturbing ways that the Trump Administration is [fearmongering about immigrants](https://time.com/7280107/trumps-attacks-on-immigrants/), effectively sowing mistrust in our electoral systems. Since [May 2025](https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1440346/dl), the Department of Justice has demanded that [nearly all](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/tracker-justice-department-requests-voter-information) states and the District of Columbia turn over full, unredacted voter rolls, including driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers. When most of those states refused, DOJ filed lawsuits against [30](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/tracker-justice-department-requests-voter-information) of them and D.C. For the states that did provide the data, DOJ then shared it with the Department of Homeland Security to [supposedly](https://stateline.org/2025/09/12/doj-is-sharing-state-voter-roll-lists-with-homeland-security/) “scrub aliens from voter rolls.” Since then, the pressure has only escalated. In July, a day after Trump gave a primetime [speech](https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/07/politics/annotated-transcript-trump-speech-us-election-vis/) in which he again railed against immigrants, made unsubstantiated claims of noncitizen voting and demanded that states change their election policies, Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin then [threatened](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/us/politics/markwayne-mullin-election-officials-threats-trump.html) state election officials with prison time if they don’t acquiesce to Trump’s demands. The intimidation isn’t just limited to officials; it’s also aimed at voters. Trump’s longtime advisor Steve Bannon has openly [called](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/steve-bannon-ice-military-polling-sites-00765331) to “have ICE surround the polls” on Election Day and [recently brushed off](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/live-updates%5Fn%5F6a82f837e4b0ddd9c1b297ae/liveblog%5F6a8496c3e4b05886dff6de47) criticism of that proposal, saying that, “it should be intimidating.” When Trump himself was directly asked if he planned to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to polling stations, he equivocated, [stating](https://x.com/ElizLanders/status/2054265101322993816?s=20) that he would do “anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.” Both federal and state laws [prohibit](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/preventing-voter-intimidation-federal-agents-polls) the deployment of federal agents at polling places. However, we have already seen what fear does to a community under ICE presence. If people in [Minneapolis](https://time.com/7345628/anti-ice-minneapolis-minnesota-protests-fear/), [Chicago](https://time.com/7323334/ice-raid-chicago-pritzker-trump/), and [Los Angeles](https://time.com/7292305/la-protests-national-guard-crackdown-essay/) were too afraid to venture out for basic needs like groceries or a doctor’s visit rather than risk an encounter, what should we expect with the looming threats of a militarized presence around elections? How many people will stay home rather than risk being racially profiled and brutalized? It is ironic that this is all unfolding in the year of America’s 250th birthday. And it begs the question: Are the actions of this administration consistent with the basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence? It is clear to me that they are not. By demonizing immigrants, the Trump Administration has endangered [due process](https://time.com/7277884/can-a-u-s-citizen-be-deported-trumps-comments-spark-legal-debate/), the [balance of powers](https://time.com/7284743/what-is-habeas-corpus-under-threat-suspension-trump-administration/), and the [Constitution](https://time.com/7268948/deportation-surgeon-constitutional-crisis/). Now, it’s using similar fear tactics to come for the very thing that makes self-government possible at all: elections we can trust. The stakes here outlast any single midterm. Whether our democracy survives this depends on our collective ability to recognize the pattern before it’s finished—and to stop it while we still can. 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