Advocating for an election reform measure that passed the House this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said elections are a basic infrastructure responsibility for her department. 

“It’s a fact that non citizens have been voting in our elections,” Noem said Firday during a press conference in Phoenix. “They’ve been registered, and they have voted from state to state.”

She called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which cleared the House this week.

Short for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, the proposal requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and mandates nationwide voter ID. 

Democrats and opponents of the SAVE America Act say voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements would impose an unnecessary burden on voters. 

Noem referenced an example of an illegal alien from who was registered to vote in Maryland and was employed as a school superintendent in Iowa. She cited another illegal alien who not only voted, but was also elected mayor of a Kansas town. 

Noem was flanked by placards showing 84% support for voter ID, and support for the SAVE America Act. 

Noem rebutted what she called “conspiracy theories” from opponents of the bill that it would lead to vast disenfranchisement of women, minorities, and U.S. military service members.

“Each of the arguments that have been out laid out to criticize this bill are baseless speculation from the radical left, because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections,” Noem said.

“They want to disenfranchise American citizens by telling them that their votes don’t matter. There’s only one reason that anyone would oppose this bill and that’s because they would want to cheat. They want illegal people and aliens in this country to be able to vote for them, and to rob the United States citizens of their vote.”

Arizona also requires proof of citizenship to vote in state elections, but cannot do so in federal elections because of national rules laid out under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, better known as the “Motor Voter” law. 

“As it stands, current guidelines for the National Voter Registration Act effectively stops states from going forward and checking citizenship during registration,” Noem said.

“The SAVE America Act will fix this. It would make sure that we close those loopholes and that we ensure, in American elections, only Americans vote.”

Arizona has been a hub for illegal immigration, and concerns about election integrity because it has been a battleground state. The state voted twice for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024, and once for Joe Biden in 2020. 

Noem said some Arizona residents have voter registration addresses at mobile homes, and boats on lakes in different states. 

“Your state has been an absolute disaster on elections. Your leaders have failed you dramatically, by not having systems that work by disenfranchising Americans who wanted to vote, they had to stand in lines for hours because machines failed, or software failed,” Noem said. 

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