Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Discriminating Against New Citizens

While critics of the SAVE America Act correctly point out that it is a massive voter suppression bill, Republicans try to justify the legislation’s onerous proof-of-citizenship requirements by arguing that their sole concern is ensuring that only Americans can vote.

There are lots of ways to show that this is bogus. For example, that goal could be achieved more easily by automatically registering US-born citizens to vote when they turn 18 and registering naturalized citizens on the day of their naturalization ceremony.

After all, that’s when all of the newly “minted” Americans have the required documents, and there can be no doubt that they are eligible.

However, the Trump administration has tried to actively prevent these naturalized citizens from signing up to vote. Last year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a rule that prohibited nonpartisan groups from continuing their long tradition of helping new Americans to register at their naturalization ceremonies.

What could possibly be the reason for doing so if their goal is that only citizens be allowed to vote? That’s simple: Naturalized Americans are more likely to support Democrats than Republicans.

On Monday, a federal judge temporarily stopped this scheme by issuing an injunction against that USCIS rule, saying that the groups that sued the Trump administration have “amply shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim that the Ban was motivated by discriminatory intent.”

The decision was based in part on statements from various members of the administration, including USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, who espoused views indicating that they believe that “immigrants threaten to reshape the nation electorally by becoming citizens,” Circuit Court Judge Adam Abelson wrote.

“Plus there are the other policy changes that occurred simultaneously with the Ban, such as the elimination of the requirement that new citizens receive a copy of the US Constitution and ‘A Voter’s Guide to Federal Elections’ during their naturalization ceremony,” he added.

The groups that had sued the administration welcomed the ruling.

“When people become American citizens, they should be welcomed into full participation in civic life, not met with new barriers,” said Celina Stewart, the CEO of the League of Women Voters. “For generations, the League has stood beside new citizens as they take the oath of citizenship and prepare to make their voices heard at the ballot box. Today’s ruling protects that fundamental democratic principle, and we will continue fighting to ensure every eligible voter can participate freely and fully in our democracy.”

Anna Baldwin, the director of voting rights litigation of the Campaign Legal Center, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the groups, noted that “any attempt to limit the freedom to vote is an attempt to silence American voters.”

And that, of course, is what the Trump administration tried to do here — in a blatant contradiction of the president’s rhetoric surrounding the SAVE America Act.