On today’s show, guest host Dana Pellebon breaks down a piece of legislation called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act with two immigration experts, Cecilia Gillhouse and Huma Ahsan. The SAVE Act would require that voters provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The purpose of this law is to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting and eliminate voter fraud.

It is already against the law for non-citizens to vote in federal and state elections and voter fraud is rare. These facts lead our guests to discuss the ideological reasons why the GOP is putting forward the SAVE Act and how it would impact voting rights across the country. There are already steep penalties for non-authorized immigrants  who vote, including being barred from becoming a permanent resident and potential deportation, says Ahsan. 

The SAVE Act would create challenges for people who are qualified to vote but who would run into trouble providing the new required documentation. If passed, the SAVE Act would require voters to present “citizenship documentation” in the form of a birth certificate or certificate of naturalization. People who were born in other countries may have trouble returning to their countries of origin to get a birth certificate for a host of reasons, says Gillhouse, from the threat of political violence to financial burdens. The SAVE Act also poses challenges for trans folk, people who change their names when they get married, folks who are born in rural communities who may not have a birth certificate, adopted children, survivors of sexual abuse, and others.

Ahsan says that it can take years to get a copy of one’s certificate of naturalization because of the backlog in the system. The SAVE Act would provide no funds to make this process easier. The SAVE Act has passed in the House and is poised to be voted on in the Senate. 

Attorney Huma Ahsan is the founder of Madison Immigration Law. Her professional career spans general immigration law, representation of minority groups, and judicial experience. Born to immigrant parents and as a first-generation Indian American, Attorney Ahsan witnessed firsthand the effects of US immigration policies. 

Cecilia Gillhouse is an immigrant from Argentina and is the owner and Chief Operating Officer of MMG Law. She has two decades of experience providing services to victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, working with the community and providing resources to Latino families in the state, formerly directing a statewide domestic violence organization and serving on several different boards of directors for an assortment of non-profit organizations serving victims and underrepresented populations.  

Featured image of a certificate of naturalization via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). 

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