The state of Florida on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration for allegedly refusing to confirm immigration records so the state can verify citizenship and prevent non-citizens from voting, Bloomberg Law reports.
The complaint, Florida v. Dept Homeland Sec., was filed in U.S. District Country for the Northern District of Florida, claims that "because the federal government is refusing to comply with these obligations and frustrating Florida’s ability to maintain the integrity of its elections, Florida files this suit."
Citing the case Bond v. United States, the state argues that "as part of the prerogatives and responsibilities of the States and the National Government – the federal government has an obligation to cooperate with the States in ensuring only citizens vote in their elections."
"Without further information from DHS, Florida is unable to fulfill its statutory duties to ensure the integrity of its elections and maintain accurate voter registration records," Florida’s Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement.
"Florida’s inability to carry out its statutory obligations inflicts sovereign injury upon the state."
The state claims it is unable to track and maintain immigration information on its own, saying it does not have the unique identifiers needed to run verification checks through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program and that it has been denied a request for information from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The lawsuit claims that Florida’s Department of State has identified several individuals that are not citizens but could not verify their legal status and run a search through the SAVE app due to the government’s lack of cooperation.
"Voting is a right granted to American citizens—not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens. 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," Moody wrote in her statement.
"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."
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