Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has filed a lawsuit following the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s refusal to verify immigration records for the state to ensure voter-roll integrity.
The AG’s office filed its complaint October 16 in federal court against the DHS and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has “effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand and little more than a speedbump for aliens flooding into the country,” the complaint states. “While estimates vary on the impact of the border crisis, there are at a minimum millions of new unauthorized aliens present in our country.
Moody
| File photo
“States have limited power to enforce federal law and deport these individuals when the federal government cannot or will not do so. But states can at a minimum ensure state laws are followed, including laws prohibiting non-citizens from voting in Florida elections.”
Moody’s office says millions of illegal immigrants have flooded into the country during President Biden’s time in office. The AG’s office says Florida has an interest in ensuring that only American citizens are registered to vote.
Recently, the state identified registered voters who may not be U.S. citizens, and DHS refuses to provide information necessary to determine their immigration status. Moody is taking the legal action to ensure noncitizens are not on the voter rolls.
“Voting is a right granted to American citizens — not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens,” Moody said. “The Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country, and we must ensure that only citizens are on our voter rolls.
“I am taking legal action against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Mayorkas to ensure Florida is able to maintain the integrity of our state’s voter rolls.”
Florida Secretary of State Cory Byrd agreed.
“The Florida Constitution is clear that only citizens can vote in our elections,” Byrd said. “Florida is calling on the federal government to dismantle the barriers blocking the states from obtaining critical information needed to prevent non-citizens from voting in our elections.
“We are going to prevail in our effort to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution’s guarantee of one citizen, one vote.”
To combat noncitizen voting and maintain the integrity of elections, the lawsuit says the Florida Department of State requested information to verify immigration records in Florida, something the state does not have the ability to acquire on its own. But it says the DHS refuses to comply with these requests. It says the DHS also denied similar requests made by multiple other states.
Under the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, Congress mandates that the Immigration and Naturalization Service, now part of DHS, shall respond to an inquiry by a federal, state or local government agency, seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of any individual within the jurisdiction of the agency for any purpose authorized by law, providing the requested verification or status information.
Florida is requesting the court hold unlawful the defendants’ failure to provide the state with information to verify the citizenship or immigration status of individuals and compel a response. Florida is also asking for permanent injunctive relief ordering defendants to respond to inquiries made by the state.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida case number 3:24-cv-509