Story perspectives

Trump Pushes SAVE Act After DHS Flags 250k Non-Citizen Voters

7/17/2026

Summary

Story summary

President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship for voters, citing DHS findings.
On Friday, DHS sent letters demanding verification of 191,000 California registrants and 66,000 in other states by July 24 after identifying over 250,000 non-citizen registrations in four states.
Twenty-five other states that used DHS data found 28,000 non-citizens and over 400,000 deceased names, with Texas reporting 2,296 non-citizens among 18 million voters.

History

Historical Context

The 2002 Help America Vote Act, enacted after the 2000 election dispute, created the Election Assistance Commission and funded a national voter-registration database with $3.5 billion, prompting California to share files with DHS, which flagged about 250,000 registrations by 2023. In July 2024 the House passed the SAVE Act, requiring citizenship proof, a move Trump now cites to push stricter verification nationwide.

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Story summary

President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship for voters, citing DHS findings.
On Friday, DHS sent letters demanding verification of 191,000 California registrants and 66,000 in other states by July 24 after identifying over 250,000 non-citizen registrations in four states.
Twenty-five other states that used DHS data found 28,000 non-citizens and over 400,000 deceased names, with Texas reporting 2,296 non-citizens among 18 million voters.

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